MINORITY  REPORT 


OF  I'HE 

COMMITTEE  OX  RAILWAYS 

IN  RELATION  TO 


THE  HOOSAC  TUNNEL 

AND  THE 

RAILROADS  EEADENG  THERETO, 

*  WITH 

A.  BILL 

TO  INCORPORATE  THE  STATE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 
OF  THE  HOOSAC  TUNNEL  RAILROAD ; 

ALSO  THE 

SPEECH  DELIVERED  BY 

*  Hon.  E.  P.  CARPENTER, 


Senate  of  Jlfassaohusetts ;  June  2,  1873, 


In  Support  of  the  Same. 


BOSTON: 

&  POTTER,  STATE  PRINTERS, 
No.  19  Province  Street. 


WRIGHT 


\  T\  0 1  Schrj^  V4 


v 

u 


Cammonfocaltfj  of  lltassarfwsttts. 


House  of  Representatives,  April  23,  1873. 

» 

The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Committee  on  Railways, 
to  whom  was  referred  "  An  Act  to  provide  for  the  Con¬ 
solidation  of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  line  of  Railroads  from 
Boston  to  Troy,”  and  the  petition  of  the  Boston  and 
Lowell  Railroad  Company  for  amendment  of  the  charter 
of  the  Great  Northern  Railroad,  and  many  petitions  and 
remonstrances  relative  to  the  disposal  of  the  Troy  and 
Greenfield  Railroad  and  Hoosac  Tunnel,  respectfully 
submit  a 


MINOBITY  KEPOKT: 

The  Committee,  after  public  notice  to  all  parties  in 
interest,  commenced  its  hearings  upon  the  subject-matter 
of  these  petitions  on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  January, 
and  finally  closed  them  on  the  twenty-first  day  of  March. 
Under  the  authority  granted  by  the  legislature,  a  reporter 
was  employed  by  the  Committee,  by  whom  a  verbatim 
report  was  made  of  all  the  testimony  and  arguments  sub¬ 
mitted  to  the  Committee.  This  has  been  printed  for  the 
use  of  the  Committee  and  of  the  legislature,  and  is  now 
accessible  to  members. 

Many  parties  were  represented  by  counsel,  and  various 
plans  were  presented. 


4 


The  first  proposal  was  that  of  the  Troy  and  Boston, 
and  Vermont  and  Massachusetts  Railroad  Companies,  for 
a  consolidation  under  one  corporation  of  the  direct  line 
between  Boston  and  Troy. 

The  second,  for  a  consolidation  of  the  Boston  and 
Lowell  and  Fitchburg  Railroad  Companies,  with  authority 
to  lease  or  purchase  the  lines  to  the  tunnel  and  to  Ogdens- 
burg,  placing  under  the  control  of  one  corporation  about 
fifteen  hundred  miles  of  railroad. 

Third,  the  proposition  was  urged  upon  the  Committee 
to  provide  for  the  acquisition  by  the  State  of  the  Tunnel 
Line. 

The  attendance  before  the  Committee  was  not  limited 
to  the  representatives  of  corporations  directly  or  indirectly 
interested  in  the  result.  Committees  of  the  Board  of 
Trade  and  other  commercial  associations,  and  many  private 
citizens  to  some  extent  represented  the  public  interests ; 
while  the  larger  audiences  in  attendance  upon  the  sessions 
of  the  Committee  attested  the  deep  interest  of  the  business 
community  in  the  subject-matter  under  discussion. 

The  problem  before  the  Committee  was  to  determine 
how  the  people  of  this  Commonwealth  could  derive  the 
greatest  benefit  from  the  construction  of  the  tunnel  which 
has  involved  so  large  a  . public  expenditure. 

The  relations  of  the  State  to  this  enterprise  have  greatly 
changed  since  its  commencement.  The  tunnel  was  pro¬ 
jected  as  a  private  enterprise,  which  was  first  aided  by  the 
State  by  a  loan  of  its  credit. 

It  was  doubtless  then  intended  that  the  tunnel  when 
completed  should  form  a  part  of  the  through  line  over  the 
Fitchburg,  Vermont  and  Massachusetts,  Troy  and  Green¬ 
field,  and  Troy  and  Boston  Railroads,  to  be  owned  and 
controlled  by  these  corporations  like  the  rest  of  the  line. 
This  project  failed.  The  Troy  and  Greenfield  Railroad 
Company  was  unable  with  the  state  loan  to  complete  the 
tunnel,  and  after  great  delays  and  difficulties,  surrendered 


5 


its  railroad  and  the  incomplete  tunnel  to  the  Common¬ 
wealth,  which  has  since  carried  on  the  work  at  the  public 
charge.  Its  completion  within  the  current  year  may  be 
expected,  and  the  total  expenditure  from  the  treasury  of 
the  State  will  amount,  including  interest,  to  about  $12,- 
000,000.  This  expenditure  is  a  charge  upon  the  people 
and  the  property  of  the  whole  State. 

It  seems  improbable  that  any  disposition  can  be  made 
of  the  tunnel  which  can  return  to  the  treasury  the  whole 
sum  expended,  and  it  is  for  the  legislature  to  determine 
how  far  a  return  can  be 'made  to  the  people  of  the  State 
from  this  great  public  expenditure,  in  increased  means  of 
transportation  and  a  reduction  of  rates  which  ffre  now  a 
burden  upon  the  whole  community.  Since  the  tunnel  was 
projected,  new  lines  of  railroad  have  been  built  which  give 
to  nearly  every  portion  of  the  State  direct  access  to  the 
tunnel  and  through  it  to  the  great  West. 

In  the  progress  of  the  hearing  certain  points  were 
made  tolerably  clear. 

First ,  That  the  tunnel  itself  should  be  so  far  held  and . 
controlled  by  the  State  as  to  insure  its  use  on  equal  terms 
by  all  parties. 

Second ,  That  some  consolidation  of  the  line  or  lines 
working  through  the  tunnel  was  essential  to  secure  effi- 
ciency  of  action,  and  to  provide  for  the  great  business 
awaiting  the  completion  of  the  tunnel. 

Third ,  That  to  provide  equipment  and  terminal  facili¬ 
ties  for  such  a  business,  the  weak  and  disjointed  separate 
corporations  were  inadequate,  and  that  it  was  particularly 
desirable  that  some  action  should  be  taken  at  the  present 
session  of  the  legislature. 

The  policy  of  direct  state  ownership  was  strongly 
pressed  upon  the  Committee  by  the  railroad  commissioners 
aitd  other  parties.  The  address  of  Mr.  Adams,  in  behalf 
of  the  commissioners,  upon  this  subject,  is  contained  in 
the  printed  report,  and  is  a  clear  and  able  statement  in 


6 


behalf  of  this  policy.  While  the  experiment  has  been 
tried  in  other  States,  and  under  other  circumstances  has 
failed,  we  do  not  think  it  is  to  be  condemned  for  this 
reason.  These  experiments  were  tried  before  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  railroad  system,  and  generally  in  thinly- 
peopled  States,  where  state  construction  of  railroads  was 
a  political  necessity  to  supplement  private  capital  that 
could  see  no  inducement  for  investment. 

In  the  days  when  state  management  failed,  corpora¬ 
tion  management  failed  to  quite  as  great  an  extent. 

The  statement  of  Mr.  Adams,  in  regard  to  the  results 
of  the  system  in  Belgium,  are  very  striking,  and  in 
England  The  current  seems  to  be  settling  in  favor  of  the 
assumption  of  the  railroads  by  the  government. 

To  any  careful  observer  of  the  railroad  development  of 
the  past  twenty-five  years,  there  can  be  little  doubt  of  a 
like  progressive  increase  in  this  business  in  the  future. 

If  the  benefit  of  this  increase  in  business  can  be  secured 
to  the  people  who  furnish  the  traffic,  instead  of  to  the 
•  corporations  who  provide  the  capital,  an  immense  public 
benefit  will  follow.  The  most  valuable  experiment  to  be 
tried  at  the  present  day  is  to  ascertain  how  cheaply  rail¬ 
road  transportation  can  be  afforded.  Corporations  formed 
to  make  money  for  their  stockholders,  can  hardly  be  ex¬ 
pected  to  fairly  try  this  experiment.  The  greatest  need 
of  this  Commonwealth  is  cheap  transportation.  To  secure 
this  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  has  been  constructed  at  a  cost  of 
$12,000,000  of  public  money. 

We  are  fully  convinced  that  to  secure  to  the  people  the 
full  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the  construction  of 
this  new  avenue  to  the  West,  and  to  secure  equal  rights  to 
all  parties  desiring  to  use  it,  the  State  must  not  part  with 
the  control  of  the  tunnel.  We  are  equally  convinced  that 
to  secure  efficiency  in  the  lines  working  through  the  tun¬ 
nel,  consolidation  is  necessary,  and  that  the  tunnel  itself 


7 


must  be  worked  and  managed  for  all  parties  using  it,  by 
one  head. 

It  would  follow  that  the  State,  retaining  the  tunnel, 
should  operate  it,  and  should  also  own  or  control  one  line 
of  road  between  Boston  and  the  West,  at  the  same  time 
giving  to  all  parties,  without  discrimination,  equal  advan¬ 
tages  to  the  tunnel.  The  state  management  cannot  afford 
to  be  unjust  or  to  discriminate. 

No  private  corporation  can  be  trusted  when  its  own  in¬ 
terests  may  conflict  with  the  interests  of  other  and  perhaps 
rival  corporations,  to  establish  or  to  enforce  rules  for  the 
transaction  of  such  business.  We  therefore  report  and 
recommend  the  passage  of  the  accompanying  fUll :  "  To 
incorporate  the  State  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Hoosac  * 
Tunnel  Railroad.” 

Its  purpose  is  to  form  a  corporation  for  the  management 
of  the  Troy  and  Greenfield  Railroad  and  Hoosac  Tunnel, 
with  all  the  powers  of  a  railroad  corporation.  It  is  to  be 
composed  of  five  trustees,  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor 
and  council,  each  to  hold  office  for  five  years,  and  one  of 
whom  shall  be  appointed  annually.  To  these  five  state 
trustees  are  to  be  added  not  exceeding  three,  one  by  each 
of  the  railroad  corporations  whose  property  may  be  ac¬ 
quired  or  managed  under  the  terms  of  the  Act. 

Instead  of  directly  purchasing  the  railroads  constituting 
the  direct  line,  provision  is  made  for  leasing  these  rail¬ 
roads  by  the  new  corporation  upon  terms  which  are  fair 
and  equitable  for  all  parties.  The  returns  to  the  railroad 
commissioners  show  that  the  average  expense  of  operating 
the  railroads  of  this  State  is  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the 
gross  income.  We  therefore  propose  to  set  apart  for  the 
benefit  of  each  of  these  corporations  twenty-five  per  cent, 
of  the  gross  income  of  its  railroad,  out  of  which  shall  be 
paid  a  yearly  rental ;  and  that  they  may  not  in  any  event 
be  losers  by  the  experiment,  it  is  proposed  to  guarantee 
to  them  an  amount  sufficient  to  pay  to  their  stockholders 


8 


the  dividends  they  are  now  paying,  with  liberty  to  increase 
to  the  maximum  which  law  or  custom  permits  our  railroad 
corporations  to  pay. 

That  such  a  lease  would  receive  the  assent  of  the  com¬ 
panies  interested,  we  have  strong  reasons  to  believe. 

It  secures  to  the  stockholders  the  dividends  they  are 
now  receiving.  It  secures  also  to  them  the  benefit  of  any 
increase  of  business  likely  to  accrue  from  the  completion  of 
the  tunnel,  to  as  full  an  extent  as  they  can  hope  to  benefit 
by  it.  No  railroad  corporation  ought  ever  to  pay  more 
than  ten  per  cent,  dividends,  and  the  legislature  would 
undoubtedly,  under  its  power  to  regulate  tolls,  interfere 
to  prevent  greater  dividends. 

While  these  corporations  are  thus  interested  in  the 
earnings  of  the  roads,  the  bill  provides  that  they  should 
be  represented  in  their  management.  We  shall  thus 
secure  the  services  of  persons  familiar  with  the  local  busi¬ 
ness  and  history  of  the  separate  roads,  and  although  form¬ 
ing  only  a  minority  of  the  board  of  management,  they  must 
have  an  important  influence  in  the  direction  of  its  affairs. 

The  benefits  to  be  gained  by  the  State  by  this  arrange¬ 
ment  are  obvious  and  manifold. 

It  retains  state  ownership  and  management  of  the  tunnel'. 

It  secures  to  all  corporations  desiring  to  use  the  tunnel 
equal  rights. 

It  secures  to  the  Commonwealth  the  full  value  of  its  in¬ 
vestment,  whatever  future  developments  of  business  shall 
prove  that  value  to  be. 

It  assumes  the  establishment  of  a  strong  corporation, 
able  to  provide  all  equipment  and  terminal  facilities  which 
any  future  increase  of  business  may  render  necessary  or 
advisable. 

It  meets  all  the  presumed  advantages  of  state  acquisition 
of  the  railroads,  without  that  disturbance  and  removal  of 
capital  which  must  follow  the  purchase  of  the  railroads 
by  the  State. 


9 


It  can  furnish  capital  for  the  improvement  of  the  line  at 
a  cheaper  rate  than  any  consolidated  company  can  procure 
it ;  and  cheap  capital  in  disinterested  hands  secures  cheap 
transportation. 

It  enables  the  State  to  try  fairly  and  fully  the  experi¬ 
ment  of  cheap  transportation. 

It  creates  a  corporation  which  cannot  combine  with  other 
corporations,  nor  can  its  stock  be  purchased  or  in  any  way 
controlled  by  outside  parties,  and  is  strong  enough  to  com¬ 
pete  successfully  with  the  powerful  corporations  of  neigh¬ 
boring  States. 

Such  a  management  we  believe  would  be  efficient  and 
reliable  beyond  that  of  ordinary  railroad  corporations.  It 
would  combine  to  a  great  degree  the  advantages  of  state 
and  corporate  management.  The  governor  and  council 
could  be  depended  upon  to  appoint  suitable  persons  as 
trustees.  The  railroad  corporations  would  naturally  ap¬ 
point  their  most  efficient  agents  as  trustees.  Such  a  board 
•could  find  no  difficulty  in  securing  the  services  of  the  ablest 
railroad  officeis  to  direct  and  aid  in  the  management. 

It  remains  to  refer  briefly  to  the  other  propositions  be¬ 
fore  the  Committee. 

First,  to  that  of  the  Boston  and  Lowell  Kailroad  Com¬ 
pany  to  unite  with  the  Fitchburg.  This  is  a  proposal  to 
unite  two  lines  in  some  degree  rival  and  competing.  They 
are  rival  lines  to  some  extent  for  local  business.  They 
form  parts  of  rival  lines  for  distant  business  with  the 
North  and  West.  It  is  a  new  proposition  in  this  Com¬ 
monwealth  to  unite  rival  and  competing  lines.  This  com¬ 
petition  will  be  increased  with  the  opening  of  the  tunnel 
line.  The  Lowell  is  the  natural  terminus  of  the  Northern 
line,  and  the  Fitchburg  is  the  natural  terminus  of  the  tun¬ 
nel  line.  Whatever  advantages  may  accrue  to  the  corpo¬ 
rations  themselves  from  such  a  consolidation,  the  public 
results  will  be  unmitigated  evil.  Not  one  witness  uneon- 
2 


10 


nected  with  the  interested  corporations  appeared  before 
the  Committee  to  testify  in  favor  of  such  a  consolidation. 
The  evidence  against  it  was  strong  and  conclusive.  The 
Northern  line  by  way  of  the  Lowell  and  Vermont  Central 
was  shown  to  be  of  great  value  to  Boston  and  to  Massa¬ 
chusetts.  It  is  now  in  a  measure  consolidated  under  con¬ 
tracts  having  twenty  years  to  run,  and  it  is  surely  bad 
policy  for  the  Commonwealth,  having  expended  $12,- 
000,000  to  create  a  new  line,  to  commence  its  operations 
with  the  destruction  of  one  in  full  and  vigorous  existence. 
Moreover,  such  a  consolidation  threatens  more  than  any¬ 
thing  else  state  control  of  the  tunnel  itself.  A  powerful 
corporation,  owning  the  whole  line  except  the  tunnel, 
would  soon  compel  the  transfer  of  that,  and  until  such 
transfer,  would  throw  upon  the  State  as  the  owner  of  the 
tunnel  the  responsibility  for  all  the  sins  and  omissions 
of  the  line. 

The  important  question  of  an  interchange  of  depots  and 
tracks  by  the  railroads  entering  Boston  on  the  north  has 
been  somewhat  involved  in  this  hearing. 

The  avoidance  of  railroad  crossings  is  undoubtedly  of 
great  importance,  but  it  has  no  proper  connection  with  the 
disposal  of  the  tunnel.  The  Eastern  Railroad  Company 
and  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad  are  agreed  what  changes 
can  and  should  be  made  to  avoid  these  crossings.  All 
that  is  essential  to  secure  this  end  is  to  remove  the  pas¬ 
senger  station  of  the  Fitchburg  Railroad  west  of  the 
Lowell,  where  it  properly  belongs.  The  legislature  has 
full  power  in  the  premises.  It  can,  independently  of  any 
consolidation,  require  the  Fitchburg  Railroad  Company  to 
provide  passenger  accommodations  west  of  the  Lowell 
station,  and  thus  leave  its  present  station  on  Causeway 
Street  free  for  the  use  of  the  Eastern  Railroad  Company. 

If  the  State  acquires  the  Fitchburg  Railroad  under  this 
Act,  it  can  easily  provide  for  the  change.  The  whole 
question  of  interchange  of  depots  is  independent  of  the 


11 


far  more  important  question  of  the  disposition  of  the  tun¬ 
nel,  and  should  not  control  it.  If  the  Lowell  Railroad 
can  provide  for  the  wants  of  the  Fitchburg  Railroad  Com- 

Sany  in  its  passenger  station  after  consolidation,  it  can 
o  so  without  consolidation. 

Respectfully  submitted  by 

E.  P.  CARPENTER, 

J.  K.  BAKER, 

T.  W.  WELLINGTON, 
WILLIAM  BAKER, 

Members  of  the  Committee  on  Hallways. 


12 


% 

Commonfocaltlj  of  jfffassaxfrusetts. 


In  the  Year  One  Thousand  Eight  Hundred  and  Seventy-Three. 


AN  ACT 


To  incorporate  the  State  Board  of  Trustees  of 
the  Hoosac  Tunnel  Railroad. 


Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa¬ 
tives ,  in  General  Court  assembled ,  and  by  the  authority  of 
the  same ,  as  folloios: 

Sect.  1.  The  governor,  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  council,  shall,  as  soon  after  the 
passage  of  this  act  as  may  be  convenient,  appoint 
five  persons,  citizens  of  this  Commonwealth,  who 
shall,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  July  next,  take 
the  interest  of  the  Commonwealth  in  the  Troy  and 
Greenfield  Railroad,  and  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  when 
it  shall  be  completed  by  the  contractors,  and  all 
the  property  and  interest  of'  the  Commonwealth 
in  the  Southern  Vermont  Railroad  Company,  and 
hold  the  same  in  trust  for  the  purposes  herein¬ 
after  named,  one  of  whom  shall  hold  his  office  for 
five  years,  one  for  four  years,  one  for  three  years, 
one  for  two  years  and  one  for  one  year,  from  the 
day  of  .  Before  the 


13 


first  clay  of  July  in  each  year,  one  such  trustee 
shall  be  appointed  for  the  term  of  five  years;  upon 
the  occurrence  of  a  vacancy  before  the  expiration  of 
a  term,  an  appointment  shall  be  made  for  the  re¬ 
mainder  of  such  term. 

Sect.  2.  Said  trustees  are  hereby  created  a 
railroad  corporation  under  the  name  of  the  State 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Iloosac  Tunnel  Railroad, 
and  shall  have  all  the.  powers  and  privileges,  and 
be  subject  to  the  duties,  restrictions  and  liabilities 
set  forth  in  the  general  laws  relating  to  railroads, 
so  far  as  the  same  may  be  applicable  and  not  in¬ 
consistent  with  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

Sect.  3.  Before  entering  upon  their  duties, 
said  trustees  shall  be  sworn  to  the  faithful  perform¬ 
ance  of  the  same.  They  shall  organize  by  the 
election  of  a  president,  who  shall  be  one  of  said 
trustees,  a  clerk  and  such  other  officers  as  shall 
be  necessary,  and  they  shall  prepare  by-laws  in 
accordance  with  which  their  meetings  shall  be  held. 

Sect.  4.  Said  board  of  trustees  shall  have  sole 
charge,  direction  and  control,  subject  to  the  pro¬ 
visions  of  this  act,  of  the  Troy  and  Greenfield 
Railroad  and  of  the  Iloosac  Tunnel,  when  said 
tunnel  shall  be  completed  by  the  contractors  of 
the  Southern  Vermont  Railroad,  and  of  such 
other  railroads  as  may  be  leased  or  acquired 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act.  They  shall 
appoint  a  treasurer,  a  general  manager,  whenever 
they  deem  such  an  officer  necessary,  one  or  more 
superintendents  and  such  other  agents  as  may  be 
required  for  the  operation  of  said  railroads  and 
tunnel,  and  they  shall  define  the  duties  and  fix  the 


14 


compensation  of  such  officers  and  agents.  They 
shall  establish  rates  for  the  transportation  of  pas¬ 
sengers  and  merchandise,  and  make  contracts  and 
arrangements  with  connecting  roads  in  relation  to 
joint  rates  and  joint  business,  and  they  may  do  all 
other  things,  not  inconsistent  with  the  provisions 
of  this  act  and  the  general  laws  in  relation  to  rail¬ 
roads,  which  may  be  necessary  for  the  efficient  and 
economical  operation  of  said  railroads  and  tunnel. 

Sect.  5.  Said  board  of  trustees  shall  hold  in 
trust  all  moneys  received  from  the  operating  of 
said  railroads  and  tunnel,  and  all  moneys  which  may 
be  appropriated  by  the  Commonwealth  for  the 
completion,  extension  and  improvement  of  said 
railroads  and  tunnel  and  for  the  equipment 
thereof,  and  shall  faithfully  apply  the  same.  They 
shall  annually  pay  into  the  treasury  of  the  Common¬ 
wealth  the  net  income  received  from  said  roads 
and  tunnel  after  the  payment  of  the  expenses; 
and  the  same  shall  be  set  apart,  under  the  direction 
of  the  governor  and  council,  and  applied  in  such 
manner  and  at  such  times  as  they  shall  direct  to 
either  or  all  of  the  following  purposes:  the  extinc¬ 
tion  of  any  indebtedness,  or  payment  of  interest 
thereon,  which  the  Commonwealth  may  at  any  time 
incur  to  carry  out  the  purposes  of  this  act,  or  any 
act  in  addition  to  or  amendment  thereof;  the 
extinction  of  the  indebtedness,  or  payment  of  in¬ 
terest  thereon,  which  has  been  or  may  be  incurred  in 
4  the  construction  of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel;  and  the 
purchase  of  stock  in  any  company  which  shall  lease 
its  franchises,  railroad  and  property  in  perpetuity 
to  the  corporation  herein  before  created. 


15 


Sect.  6.  Said  board  of  trustees  shall  make  a 
semi-annual  report  to  the  governor  and  council 
of  their  doings  during  the  six  months  next  pre¬ 
ceding,  and  of  their  receipts  and  expenditures, 
and  shall  make  an  annual  report  to  the  board  of 
railroad  commissioners  in  the  manner  and  form  and 
at  the  time  prescribed  for  railroad  corporations. 

Sect.  7.  Said  trustees  shall  receive,  in  full  com¬ 
pensation  for  their  services  as  such,  the  sum  of 
five  thousand  dollars  each  per  annum,  except  the 
president  of  the  board,  who  shall  receive  eight 
thousand  dollars,  which  sums  shall  be  charged  to 
operating  expenses.  No  trustee  shall  be  appointed 
to  any  office  in  the  employ  of  said  board  of  trus¬ 
tees,  except  the  president,  but  the  general  manager, 
when  such  officer  shall  be  appointed,  shall  be  ex 
officio  a  member  of  the  said  board. 

Sect.  8.  Said  board  of  trustees  is  hereby  au¬ 
thorized  to  re-locate,  where  necessary,  the  tracks 
of  said  Troy  and  Greenfield  Railroad,  taking  land 
therefor  in  the  method  prescribed  by  law  in  case 
of  land  taken  for  depot  or  station  purposes,  and  to 
complete,  extend  and  improve  the  construction 
and  equipment  of  said  railroad  and  tunnel,  and  to 
prepare  the  same  in  all  respects  for  the  reception 
of  the  traffic  of  a  through  line. 

Sect.  9.  The  sum  of  five  million  dollars  is 
hereby  appropriated,  to  be  expended  under  the 
direction  of  said  board  of  trustees  in  carrying  out 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  to  be  paid  to  them  from 
time  to  time  as  the  -same  may  be  required  and 
called  for,  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  said  board  of 
trustees,  on  the  warrant  of  the  governor.  And 


16 


for  the  purpose  of  providing  for  said  appropriation 
the  treasurer  of  the  Commonwealth  is  hereby  au¬ 
thorized  to  issue  scrip  or  certificates  of  debt  in  the 
name  and  on  behalf  of  the  Commonwealth  to  an 
amount  not  exceeding  five  million  dollars,  to  be 
sold  or  disposed  of  in  such  manner,  and  at  such 
times,  and  in  such  amounts,  as  the  governor  and 
council  shall  direct.  Such  serif)  shall  be  redeem¬ 
able  in  not  less  than  twenty  nor  more  than  forty 
years  from  the  date  thereof,  shall  bear  interest  not 
exceeding  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  payable 
semi-annually,  and  shall  be  known  as  the  "  Hoosac 
Tunnel  Railroad  Loan”;  and  the  property  of  the 
Commonwealth  in  the  Troy  and  Greenfield  Rail¬ 
road  is  hereby  set  apart  and  pledged  to  the  redemp¬ 
tion  of  said  scrip. 

Sect.  10.  Said  board  of  trustees  is  hereby 
authorized  and  directed  to  lease  in  perpetuity, 
or  for  such  term  of  years  as  the  governor 
and  council  may  approve,  the  franchises  and 
property,  and  thereafter  to  maintain,  improve 
and  operate  the  railroad,  with  its  branches,  of 
the  Vermont  and  Massachusetts  Railroad  Com¬ 
pany,  on  the  terms  following:  twenty-five  per 
cent,  of  the  gross  earnings  of  said  leased  rail¬ 
road  and  property  shall  be  reserved  annually  by 
said  board  of  trustees  as  a  specific  fund  out  of 
which  they  shall  pay  to  said  company,  first,  a  sum 
sufficient  to  pay  the  interest  on  the  indebtedness 
of  said  company,  at  the  date  of  said  lease,  as  said 
interest  becomes  due,  and,  second,  a  yearly  rental 
equal  to  ten  per  cent,  on  the  present  capital  stock 
of  said  company,  free  of  all  taxes  upon  the  stock- 


17 


holders  or  said  company  (and  on  any  additional 
stock,  when  the  same  shall  be  issued  for  existing 
convertible  bonds),  or  such  a  proportion  of  said 
rental,  not  exceeding  said  ten  per  cent,  and  said 
taxes  as  said  reserved  fund  shall  be  sufficient  to 
pay :  provided ,  however ,  that  in  no  year  shall  there 
be  paid  to  said  company  a  rental  of  less  than  four 
per  cent,  on  said  capital  stock,  and  said  taxes 
together  with  the  amount  of  said  interest;  and  to 
the  payment  of  such  minimum  rental  and  interest 
said  board  of  trustees  is  authorized  to  pledge  the 
faith  of  the  Commonwealth.  Said  board  of  trus¬ 
tees  is  also  authorized  to  assume  and  make  pro¬ 
vision  in  said  lease  for  the  payment  of  the  prin¬ 
cipal  of  said  indebtedness.  The  surplus  of  said 
reserved  fund  shall  be  annually  passed  by  said 
board  of  trustees  to  the  account  of  earnings. 
"When  said  lease  shall  have  been  executed,  and 
while  the  same  continues  in  force,  said  Vermont 
and  Massachusetts  Railroad  Company  may  elect, 
from  time  to  time,  for  a  term  not  exceeding  five 
years,  one  trustee,  who  shall  be  added  to  said 
board  of  trustees,  and,  upon  being  sworn  to  the 
faithful  performance  of  his  duties,  shall  become  an 
incorporated  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Trustees 
of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  Railroad;  and  said  company 
may  fill  vacancies  for  the  remainder  of  the  term. 

Sect.  11.  Said  board  of  trustees  is  hereby 
authorized  and  directed  to  lease  in  perpetuity,  or 
for  such  term  of  years  as  the  governor  and  council 
may  approve,  the  franchises  and  property,  and 
thereafter  to  maintain,  improve  and  operate  the 
railroad,  with  its  branches,  of  the  Fitchburg  Rail- 

3 


18 


road  Company,  on  the  terms  following  :  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  of  the  gross  earnings  of  said  leased 
railroad  and  property  shall  be  reserved  annually 
by  said  board  of  trustees  as  a  specific  fund,  out 
of  which  they  shall  pay  to  said  company  a  yearly 
rental  equal  to  ten  per  cent,  on  the  present  capital 
stock  of  said  company,  free  of  all  taxes  upon  the 
stockholders  or  said  company,  and  also  on  an 
additional  capital  stock  of  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  which  said  company  is  hereby  authorized 
to  issue  and  hold  for  its  own  benefit,  or  such  a 
proportion  of  said  rental,  not  exceeding  said  ten 
per  cent,  and  said  taxes,  as  said  reserved  fund 
shall  be  sufficient  to  pay:  provided ,  however ,  that 
in  no  year  shall  there'  be  paid  to  said  company  a 
rental  of  less  than  eight  per  cent,  on  said  capital 
stock  and  said  taxes;  and  to  the  payment  of  such 
minimum  rental,  said  board  of  trustees  is  author¬ 
ized  to  pledge  the  faith  of  the  Commonwealth. 
The  surplus  of  said  reserved  fund  shall  be  an¬ 
nually  passed  to  the  account  of  earnings.  When 
said  lease  shall  have  been  executed,  and  while  the 
same  continues  in  force,  said  Fitchburg  Railroad 
Company  may  elect,  from  time  to  time,  for  a  term 
not  exceeding  five  years,  one  trustee,  who  shall  be 
added  to  said  board  of  trustees,  and,  upon  being 
sworn  to  the  faithful  performance  of  his  duties, 
shall  become  an  incorporated  member  of  the  State 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  Railroad ; 
and  said  company  may  fill  vacancies  for  the  re¬ 
mainder  of  the  term. 

Sect.  12.  Said  board  of  trustees  is  hereby 
authorized  and  directed  to  lease  the  franchises 


19 


and  property,  and  thereafter  to  maintain,  improve 
and  operate  the  railroad,  with  its  branches,  of  the 
Troy  and  Boston  Railroad  Company,  and  shall  pay 
therefor  an  annual  rental  equal  to  twenty-five  per 
cent,  of  the  gross  earnings  of  said  leased  railroad 
and  property.  "When  said  lease  shall  have  been 
executed,  and  while  the  same  continues  in  force, 
said  Troy  and  Boston  Railroad  Company  may 
elect,  from  time  to  time,  for  a  term  not  exceeding 
five  years,  one  trustee,  who  shall  be  added  to  said 
board  of  trustees,  and  upon  being  sworn  to  the 
faithful  performance  of  his  duties,  shall  become  an 
incorporated  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Trus¬ 
tees  of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  Railroad;  and  said 
company  may  fill  vacancies  for  the  remainder  of 
the  term. 

Sect.  13.  In  estimating  what  shall  constitute 
the  said  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  gross  earn¬ 
ings  of  said  several  leased  railroads,  out  of  which 
their  rentals  are  to  be  paid,  there  shall  be  first 
deducted  from  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  their  re¬ 
spective  gross  earnings,  six  per  cent,  per  annum 
on  all  amounts  expended  by  said  board  of  trustees 
for  the  permanent  improvement  of  said  railroads 
respectively. 

Sect.  14.  Said  Vermont  and  Massachusetts, 
Fitchburg,  and  Troy  and  Boston  Railroad  Com- 
canies  are  severally  authorized  to  lease  their  fran¬ 
chises  and  property  to  said  board  of  trustees. 

Sect.  15.  Said  board  of  trustees  is  further 
authorized,  with  the  approval  of  the  governor  and 
council,  to  lease  or  purchase  necessary  terminal 
facilities,  and  also  to  lease  any  railroad  now  built, 


20 


or  that  hereafter  may  be  built,  lying  in  the  tunnel 
route  between  Boston  and  Lake  Ontario. 

Sect.  16.  In  the  carriage  of  through  passen¬ 
gers  and  merchandise,  the  rates  of  transportation 
shall  be  estimated  pro  rata  per  mile,  and  the 
Hoosac  Tunnel  shall  be  estimated  at  such  length  in 
miles,  not  exceeding  fifty,  as  shall  seem  equitable 
to  the  trustees. 

Sect.  17.  In  the  management  of  such  railroads 
as  shall  come  under  the  operation  of  said  board  of 
trustees,  there  shall  be  no  unequal  discriminations 
in  freights,  fares  or  facilities  in  favor  of  or  against 
different  persons,  places  or  connecting  railroads. 

Sect.  18.  In  case  of  the  lease  of  the  Fitch¬ 
burg  Railroad  under4  the  terms  of  this  act,  the 
said  board  of  trustees  is  authorized  and  directed 
to  purchase  terminal  facilities  in  Boston,  westerly 
of  the  freight  station  of  the  Boston  and  Maine 
Railroad  and  to  arrange  with  the  Eastern  Railroad 
Company  for  an  interchange  of  stations  in  Boston 
in  such  manner  as  to  obviate  the  necessity  of  pas¬ 
senger  trains  on  the  Eastern  Railroad,  Boston  and 
Maine  Railroad  and  Fitchburg  Railroad  crossing 
the  tracks  of  the  other,  and  the  Eastern  Railroad 
Company  is  hereby  authorized,  with  the  assent  of 
said  trustees,  to  take  or  purchase  all  the  land,  de¬ 
pot  property  and  buildings  of  the  Fitchburg  Rail¬ 
road  Company,  situated  in  Boston  south  of  the 
channel  or  passage-way  for  vessels  through  the 
Fitchburg  Railroad  bridge  over  Charles  River, 
said  property  to  include  all  the  draws  and  draw¬ 
bridges  over  the  passage-way  for  vessels. 

Also  all  the  property,  land  and  buildings  situ- 


21 


ated  on  the  south-westerly  side  of  the  following 
line,  to  wit:  beginning  at  a  point  on  the  northerly 
side  of  the  above-mentioned  passage-way  for  ves¬ 
sels  twenty-two  feet  nine  inches  east  of  the  east¬ 
erly  line  of  the  roadway  draw  over  said  passage¬ 
way,  and  running  northerly  at  right  angles  to  said 
passage-way,  one  hundred  and  three  feet  five  inches, 
to  a  point  where  said  line  intersects  with  the  north¬ 
easterly  line  of  said  Fitchburg  Railroad  bridge 
over  Charles  River;  thence  northerly,  following 
and  coinciding  with  said  north-easterly  line  of 
bridge,  eight  hundred  and  forty-eight  feet;  thence 
turning  and  running  westerly  to  a  point  in  the 
north  rail  of  the  north  passenger  track  of  the 
Fitchburg  Railroad,  distant’ four  hundred  and  six¬ 
teen  feet  seven  inches  from  the  south-easterly  line 
of  Austin  Street,  measured  on  said  north  rail  of 
the  north  track.  Said  point  is  also  distant  twenty- 
nine  feet  four  inches  at  right  angles  from  the 
southerly  side  of  the  wooden  freight  house  (meas¬ 
ured  from  a  point  sixty  feet  distant  from  the  west¬ 
erly  end)  belonging  to  the  Fitchburg  Railroad 
Company,  on  Front  Street;  thence  southerly, 
crossing  the  Fitchburg  passenger  tracks  at  right 
angles  to  a  point  four  feet  distant  south  of  the 
south  rail  of  south  passenger  track;  thence  west¬ 
erly  on  a  curved  line  parallel  with  the  south  rail  of 
the  south  passenger  track,  and  four  feet  distant 
therefrom  to  the  south-easterly  line  of  Austin 
Street  in  Charlestown.  And  if  the  Eastern  Rail¬ 
road  Company  shall  so  take  the  said  property  of 
the  Fitchburg  Railroad  Company,  then  the  Fitch¬ 
burg  Railroad  Company  shall  take  or  purchase  all 


22 


the  like  property  of  the  Eastern  Railroad  Com¬ 
pany  lying  between  the  crossing  of  the  Eastern 
and  Fitchburg  Railroads  and  Causeway  Street  in 
Boston,  except  the  parcel  of  land  to  be  taken  by 
the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad,  as  hereinafter 
provided;  and  in  case  of  the  taking  or  exchange 
of  the  tracks  and  property  herein  before  described, 
or  any  part  thereof,  the  said  Fitchburg  Railroad 
Company  shall  locate  and  construct  such  tracks 
and  bridge  structures  on  the  westerly  side  of  the 
present  line  of  the  Eastern  Railroad  as  may  be 
necessary  to  connect  its  railroad  and  tracks  with 
the  tracks  and  property  so  purchased  or  taken  by 
it;  and  shall  not  thereafter  cross  either  said  East¬ 
ern  Railroad  or  said  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad 
except  for  freight  purposes. 

And  the  Eastern  Railroad  Company  shall  locate 
and  construct  such  tracks  and  bridge  structures  as 
shall  be  required  to  connect  its  present  tracks 
northerly  of  its  crossing  with  the  Boston  and 
Maine  Railroad  with  the  tracks  and  property  so 
purchased  or  taken  by  it,  keeping  at  all  times  east 
of  a  line  drawn  from  a  point  on  the  easterly  side 
of  its  present  location,  distant  southerly  three 
hundred  and  fifty  feet,  measured  on  said  line  from 
its  intersection  with  the  southerly  side  of  Cam¬ 
bridge  Street  to  the  point  of  intersection  of  the 
northerly  line  of  the  state  prison  wharf  with  the 
easterly  line  of  the  location  of  the  Boston  and 
Maine  Railroad,  and  thence  keeping  east  of  said 
easterly  line  of  said  location;  and  shall  not  there¬ 
after  cross  the  tracks  of  the  Boston  and  Maine 
Railroad. 


23 


And  the  Eastern  Railroad  Company  shall  take 
any  lands  now  belonging  to  the  Boston  and  Maine 
Railroad  in  Charlestown  or  Somerville  lying  east¬ 
erly  of  such  new  location;  and  the  Boston  and 
Maine  Railroad  shall  take  all  the  road-bed,  land 
and  property  of  the  Eastern  Railroad  Company 
lying  between  the  line  above  described  for  the 
westerly  limitation  of  said  new  location  of  the 
Eastern  Railroad  and  the  westerly  line  of  the  old 
location  of  the  Eastern  Railroad,  and  the  present 
northerly  line  of  the  Fitchburg  Railroad:  pro¬ 
vided ,  however ,  that  in  case  of  the  aforesaid 
taking  and  exchange  of  property  by  and  between 
the  Eastern  and  Fitchburg  Railroads,  the  Boston 
and  Maine  Railroad  shall  release  the  Eastern  Rail¬ 
road  Company  from  all  damages  for  its  taking  and 
occupation  thereof  and  take  from  the  said  Eastern 
Railroad  Company  so  much  of  the  premises  de¬ 
scribed  in  the  first  section  of  the  three  hundred  and 
fifty-sixth  chapter  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen 
hundred  and  seventy-two,  as  was  taken  from  the 
said  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad  by  said  Eastern 
Railroad  Company  under  the  provisions  of  that 
act;  and  said  Eastern  Railroad  Company  shall, 
without  other  compensation  therefor,  release  to 
said  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad  all  their  rights  in 
said  premises  acquired  by  them,  taking  the  same 
under  said  act;  and  provided ,  further ,  that  any 
exchange  of  land  made  under  the  provisions  of 
this  section  shall  take  effect  simultaneously. 

All  general  laws  relating  to  the  taking  of  land 
for  railroad  purposes  and  to  the  location  and  con¬ 
struction  of  railroads,  shall  be  applicable  to  and 


24 


9 


govern  the  proceedings  in  the  taking  and  ex¬ 
change  of  lands  and  property,  and  in  the  making 
of  any  new  locations  under  the  provisions  of  the 
foregoing  sections,  except  that  instead  of  the 
county  commissioners  three  disinterested  persons 
shall  be  appointed  by  the  supreme  judicial  court 
for  the  county  of  Suffolk  as  a  board  of  commis¬ 
sioners  to  determine  the  values  of  the  lands  and 
property  so  taken  and  exchanged  or  over  which 
any  such  location  may  be  made,  and  to  adjudicate 
the  damages  to  be  paid  by  any  of  the  others  upon 
the  taking,  exchange  or  locations  aforesaid,  from 
whose  decision  an  appeal  shall  he  to  a  jury  in  be¬ 
half  of  either  party,  as  provided  by  law  in  the 
case  of  lands  taken  Tor  railroad  purposes. 

Any  sum  of  money  received  by  the  Fitchburg 
Railroad  in  said  interchange  of  stations  and  tracks 
above  the  expense  of  necessary  alterations  shall 
be  applied  to  procuring  new  terminal  facilities  and 
making  improvements  on  said  road  or  may  be  ap¬ 
plied  to  the  reduction  of  the  capital  stock  of  the 
Fitchburg  Railroad  Company  in  such  manner  as 
may  he  agreed  between  the  Fitchburg  Railroad 
Company  and  said  hoard  of  trustees. 

Sect.  19.  This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  its 
passage. 


25 


SPEECH. 


Mr.  President  : 

I  am  deeply  impressed  with  the  great  importance 
of  the  question  now  before  us  for  consideration.  It 
is  not  local,  not  sectional,  nor  political,  but  a  ques¬ 
tion  that  affects  more  or  less  directly  the  industrial, 
the  mercantile,  the  manufacturing,  and  the  commer¬ 
cial  interests  of  the  whole  Commonwealth.  The 
proper  solution  of  this  great  problem  rests  with  us, 
as  the  representatives  of  the  people;  and  it  is  a 
responsibility  of  no  ordinary  importance,  and  one 
that  should  control  our  serious  and  earnest  atten¬ 
tion  and  our  candid  and  best  judgment,  unbiased 
by  any  local  or  personal  interest,  with  a  solemn 
regard  to  our  oaths  to  support  and  maintain  the 
constitutional  rights  of  the  people  of  the  Common¬ 
wealth. 

Stern  convictions  of  duty  alone  induce  me  to 
address  this  honorable  body  on  this  occasion — duty* 
that  I  feel  incumbent  upon  me,  Mr.  President,  from 
the  honored  position  that  I  received  at  your  hands. 
It  is  well  known  that  I  neither  have  or  make  any 

4 


26 


claims  as  a  public  speaker,  and  I  must  ask  your 
indulgence  for  being  somewhat  dependent  upon 
my  notes  in  presenting  to  you  an  honest  statement 
of  my  own  convictions  of  this  great  question,  hav¬ 
ing  no  other  interest  to  serve  but  the  State  and  her 
people. 

This  important  subject  involves  directly  the  whole 
question  of  the  railroad  policy  of  this  Common¬ 
wealth;  and  here  in  Massachusetts  the  proper  di¬ 
rection  of  the  railroad  policy  is  even  more  import¬ 
ant  than  at  the  West,  where  it  now  engages  the 
public  attention  almost  to  the  exclusion  of  other 
interests. 

Within  the  last  fifty  years  this  Commonwealth 
has  almost  entirely  changed  its  industrial  position. 
Half  a  century  ago,  agriculture,  the  fisheries,  and 
commerce  were  the  leading  interests.  Now,  manu¬ 
factures  engross  the  attention  of  our  people,  and 
have  made  all  other  interests  subordinate.  They 
have  not  excluded  other  interests,  but  in  a  measure 
supplemented  them.  Our  agriculture  has  changed 
and  now  finds  its  chief  support  in  providing  sup¬ 
plies  for  the  manufacturing  towns  which  have 
grown  up  in  every  part  of  the  Commonwealth. 
Our  commerce,  both  internal  and  external,  is 
largely  engaged  in  bringing  to  our  doors  the 
raw  material  for  our  laborers,  and  in  spreading 
throughout  the  world  the  products  of  our  manu¬ 
facturing  industry. 


27 


We  can  raise  but  a  small  proportion  of  the  food 
necessary  to  feed  the  people  of  the  State;  under 
such  circumstances  the  transportation  must  weigh 
heavily  upon  our  industry.  We  feel  it  in  the  in¬ 
creased  cost  of  living,  which  increases  the  cost  of 
every  article  we  produce.  We  feel  it  in  the  in¬ 
creased  cost  of  the  raw  materials  of  our  manufac¬ 
tures,  which  makes  us  less  able  to  compete  suc¬ 
cessfully  with  more  favored  locations.  We  feel  it 
finally  in  the  increased  cost  of  marketing  our  goods. 
This  position  has  been  so  well  stated  by  the  Rail¬ 
road  Commissioners  in  their  report  of  1870,  page 
39,  that  I  may  repeat  it  here : — 

"It  may  safely  be  asserted  that  there  is  no  branch  of 
Massachusetts  industry  which  is  not  carried  on  against 
competition  more  advantageously  located.  The  State  has 
very  few  natural  advantages  ;  but  everything  with  her  de¬ 
pends  on  the  intelligence  of  her  people,  and  the  cost  of 
transportation.  The  West,  in  producing  cereals,  has  at 
least  a  soil  of  unsurpassed  fertility  :  Pennsylvania  in  man¬ 
ufacturing  iron  has  the  ore  and  the  coal  in  close  proximity 
to  the  furnace.  The  English  mill-owner  has  his  power 
and  his  labor  in  cheap  profusion.  Almost  every  article, 
however,  which  enters  into  the  industries  of  Massachusetts 
has  to  be  brought  within  her  limits  from  a  distance.  Her 
very  water  powers  are  subject  to  inclement  winters  and 
dry  summers,  while  she  has  to  make  her  ingenuity  supply 
a  deficiency  in  labor.  Her  food  is  brought  from  the  North- 
West  :  her  wool  and  her  leather  from  South  America,  Tex¬ 
as,  California  and  the  Central  States  :  her  cotton  from  the 
South :  her  ores  from  the  Adirondacks  :  her  coal  from 
Pennsylvania ;  her  copper  from  Superior, — and  the  list 


28 


would  admit  of  infinite  extension.  Massachusetts  is  thus 
merely  an  artificial  point  of  meeting  for  all  kinds  and 
descriptions  of  raw  material  which  is  here  worked  up, 
and  then  sent  abroad  again  to  find  a  customer.  At  every 
point,  coming  and  going,  and  in  process  of  manufacture,  it 
has  to  be  transported,  and  it  has  to  bear  all  costs  of  trans¬ 
portation  in  competition  with  articles  of  the  same  descrip¬ 
tion  produced  elsewhere  and  by  others.  Every  reduction 
of  the  transportation  tax  acts  then  as  a  direct  encourage¬ 
ment  to  the  industry  of  Massachusetts,  just  as  much  so  as 
if  it  were  a  bounty  or  bonus  :  it  is  just  so  much  weight 
taken  off  in  the  race  of  competition.” 


No  words  of  mine  can  add  any  force  to  this  plain 
statement  of  facts ;  but  yet  we  are  told  that  trans¬ 
portation  is  only  one  element  in  the  cost  and  price 
of  goods,  and  frequently  not  that  of  the  greatest 
consequence,  but  the  importance  of  this  one  element 
is  fourfold,  and  often  more,  to  the  Massachusetts 
manufacturer,  making  the  transportation  of  more 
importance  in  many  cases  than  the  cost  of  materials 
transported.  This  transportation  tax  is  the  very 
element  that  is  to  build  up  a  competition  in  these 
favored  localities  that  will  either  extinguish  or 
transfer  many  classes  of  our  industrial  interests 
that  we  can  ill  afford  to  lose. 

It  is  only  necessary  for  one  to  travel  "West  and 
South  and  observe  the  great  development  and  suc¬ 
cess  of  the  manufacturing  interest  in  these  sections 
to  be  convinced  that  New  England  cannot  long 
hold  the  prestige  as  the  "workshop”  of  the  country 


29 


with  so  heavy  a  transportation  tax  imposed  upon 
her  industrial  productions. 

The  importance  of  this  one  element  will  be  more 
fully  realized  by  the  Eastern  manufacturer  when  he 
finds  that  his  Southern  and  Western  rivals  save  it 
altogether  by  having  the  raw  material  at  hand,  and 
a  home  market  with  all  the  other  elements  (save 
skilled  labor  which  can  be  transported)  that  make 
manufacturing  industry  profitable  at  a  much  less 
cost. 

A  combination  of  our  manufacturers  to  establish 
cheap  transportation,  and  the  sale  of  their  goods 
upon  a  home  market,  would  be  far  more  to  their 
interest  and  profit  than  the  exaction  of  an  extra 
hour’s  labor  and  would  confer  a  great  blessing 
upon  their  overtasked  employes. 

EFFORTS  TO  REDUCE  THE  TRANSPORTATION  TAX. 

Since  the  railroad  system  was  inaugurated  in 
1831,  the  statutes  of  this  Commonwealth  bear 
yearly  evidence  of  the  persistent  and  liberal  policy 
pursued  by  the  legislature  toward  the  railroads. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate  the  many  acts 
which  have  been  passed  loaning  the  credit  of  the 
State  to  aid  the  struggling  corporations  in  estab¬ 
lishing  and  completing  their  lines. 

Almost  all  the  leading  lines  in  the  State  sought 
and  obtained  this  aid,  without  which  there  must 
have  been  a  great  delay,  if  not  failure  in  accom- 


30 


plishing  these  enterprises ;  and  here  let  me  say,  that 
with  the  exception  of  the  Hartford  and  Erie  loan, 
and  the  losses  arising  from  the  repayment  by  the 
Eastern,  and  Norwich  and  Worcester  railroads  in 
legal  tender  instead  of  gold,  there  has  never  been 
a  dollar  lost  by  the  railroad  loans  of  the  State.  The 
result  has  been  to  build  up  a  system  of  railroads, 
centering  in  the  city  of  Boston,  having  no  superior, 
if  equal,  for  completeness  on  this  continent.  Massa¬ 
chusetts  has  more  miles  of  railroad  in  proportion  to 
population  and  territory  than  any  similar  extent  of 
territory  in  America. 

And  there  can  be  no  question  that  the  pros¬ 
perity  of  the  State  has  grown  more  from  its  rail¬ 
road  facilities,  than  from  all  other  causes  combined. 

There  is  another  class  of  legislation  to  which  we 
cannot  look  with  equal  satisfaction.  Every  rail¬ 
road  charter  contains  provisions  for  the  regulation 
of  fares  and  freights;  and  yet  since  the  railroads 
were  established,  no  single  act  has  been  passed 
directly  for  this  regulation.* 

The  question  has  involved  so  great  difficulties 
that  no  legislature  has  yet  ventured  to  grapple 
with  it.  The  tendency  of  legislation  in  that  direc¬ 
tion  is  obvious.  Commissioners  have  been  ap- 

% 

pointed  to  consider  the  subject  and  no  result  has 
followed.  A  Board  of  Railroad  Commissioners  has 
been  formed,  which  has  been  productive  of  great 


31 


good  both  to  the  railroad  corporations,  and  to  the 
people. 

This  board  has  been  directed  to  fully  consider 
and  report  some  plan  of  regulating  fares  and 
freights;  and  has  reported  that  it  cannot  recom¬ 
mend  any  means  of  reducing  this  transportation 
tax,  by  direct  legislation,  but  strongly  advises  the 
trial  of  State  ownership,  as  the  only  means  of 
attaining  the  desired  end. 

THE  EFFECT  IN  OUR  EXISTING  SYSTEM. 

While  it  may  be  said  that  under  the  present 
system  of  railroads,  the  Commonwealth  has  been 
prosperous,  there  are  drawbacks  and  defects 
which  need  careful  examination,  and  if  possible  a 
remedy.  To  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  con¬ 
dition  of  our  manufactures,  the  most  striking  want 
is  the  failure  of  our  home  market  for  our  produc¬ 
tions. 

We  are  tributary  to  New  York  in  many  ways. 
The  great  sale  of  our  manufactured  goods  is  made 
in  New  York,  and  goes  to  build  up  a  rival  city. 
Our  great  commission  houses  have  been  compelled 
to  establish  branches  in  New  York,  which  in  a 
short  time  have  surpassed  in  business  and  in 
importance  the  home  establishments. 

If  we  could  have  kept  at  home  the  sale  of  our 
manufactured  goods — have  retained  here  in  Boston 
the  great  houses  through  which  the  exchanges  are 


32 


made — could  have  brought  to  New  England  the 
purchasers  from  the  West  and  South,  it  would 
have  vastly  increased  the  prosperity  of  Boston  and 
of  New  England. 

Business  can  be  done  cheaper  in  Boston  than 
in  New  York;  and  yet  New  York  has  drawn  away 
from  us  a  large  proportion  of  our  legitimate  busi¬ 
ness, — the  sale  of  our  manufactured  goods;  and 
this  loss  can  be  directly  attributed  to  a  defect  in 
our  railroad  system,  which  can  and  should  be 
remedied.  I  say  defect,  but,  more  properly,  the 
want  of  a  strong  and  independent  line  of  railroad 
through  to  the  West,  controlled  in  the  interest  of 
Massachusetts.  Why,  Mr.  President,  if  we  could 
withdraw  from  New  York  the  firms  and  business 
that  represent  the  sale  of  Massachusetts  goods,  it 
would  more  than  cover  the  burnt  district  of  this 
city,  and  double  the  business  of  Boston;  and 
New  York  would  feel  that  her  loss  was  much 
greater  than  the  ‘Boston  fire.  And  why  is  it  that 
our  goods  are  sent  -to  New  York  to  be  sold? 
Simply  because  New  York  has  three  great  trunk 
routes  to  the  West,  which  control  the  transporta¬ 
tion  of  the  Southern  and  Western  productions,  and 
the  owners,  who  are  the  merchants,  follow  their 
goods,  and  are  the  customers  who  purchase  our 
manufactured  goods  of  New  York  houses,  and  ship 
them  in  return  over  these  same  trunk  lin^s,  giving 
them  a  large  and  profitable  business;  which 


33 


should  be  and  can  be  controlled,  by  proper  man¬ 
agement,  in  the  interest  and  for  the  benefit  of  a 
through  line  or  lines  from  Boston  to  the  West. 

To-day  Boston  is  without  a  through  and  inde¬ 
pendent  line  to  the  West,  and  while  we  are  ship¬ 
ping  our  goods  to  New  York  to  be  sold,  to  be 
transported  over  the  great  lines  leading  South  and 
West,  our  own  Western  road,  so  called,  in  1872, 
according  to  the  annual  report  of  the  directors, 
carried  through  from  Boston  to  Albany  112,071 
tons  of  freight,  and  from  Albany  to  Boston  556,- 
202  tons — more  than  four  times  as  much  from  the 
West  than  is  carried  to  the  West;  which  state  of 
things  would  be  reversed  if  the  sale  of  our  goods 
was  made  here  instead  of  New  York;  but  this 
can  only  be  accomplished  by  a  through  line  West, 
controlled  in  the  interests  of  Massachusetts,  and 
not  in  the  interest  of  New  York. 

A  line  to  the  Lakes  in  competition, — not  with  the 
Boston  and  Albany  Railroad,  as  that  is  dependent 
upon  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  in  a  great 
measure  for  its  Western  freights, — but  an  indepen¬ 
dent  line,  so  organized  as  to  guard  against  any 
combination,  that  will  force  by  competition  the 
New  York  lines  to  give  to  the  Boston  and  Albany 
and  the  Boston,  Hartford  and  Erie  Railroads  less 
rates,  making  Boston  a  competing  point,  thus 
securing  the  advantages  of  four  competing  West¬ 
ern  lines,  including  the  great  Northern  line,  which 

5 


34 


must  bring’  to  our  seaboard  the  products  of  the 
great  West,  and  thus  secure  rn  exchange  of  trade 
that  will  increase  the  growth,  and  prosperity  of 
Massachusetts,  that  will  equal  the  prophecies  of 
those  who  are  called  visionary  theorists.  It  was 
by  competition  of  the  three  great  trunk  lines  run¬ 
ning  to  New  York — discriminating  against  Boston 
— that  forced  the  removal  of  the  sale  of  Massachu¬ 
setts  productions  to  that  city;  and  it  is  estimated 

these  sales  amount  o  m  re  than  two  hundred  and 

* 

fifty  millions  of  dollars  per  annum  at  the  present 
time ;  and  the  golden  opportunity  is  now  at  hand 
to  restore  in  a  great  measure  the  advantages  lost 
by  not  having  a  strong  and  efficient  line  of  railroad 
leading  to  the  great  West,  in  the  interest  of  the 
State. 

THE  RELATIVE  ADVANTAGES  OF  BOSTON  AND 
NEW  YORK. 

The  great  advantages  of  New  York  arise  from 
the  fact  that  it  is  a  great  emporium  of  exportation 
and  importation.  A  very  large  proportion  of  the 
exports  o"  the  country  have  been  made  from  New 
York.  She  has  gained  control  of  the  export  trade 
— and  the  export  trade  governs  the  import  trade. 
Ships  go  where  they  can  find  a  return  cargo,  and 
merchants  follow  their  goods.  The  possession  of 
the  great  bulk  of  the  export  trade,  has  given  to 
New  York  the  great  bulk  of  importations,  and 


35 


equally  the  control  of  the  domestic  trade.  How 
can  we,  in  Boston  and  Massachusetts,  get  our  fair 
share  of  the  importing  and  domestic  trade  of  the 
country?  There  is  but  one  way — by  reducing  the 
transportation  tax.  In  many  respects  Boston  has 
great  advantages  for  the  export  trade.  The  chief 
exports  of  the  country  are  to  Europe.  We  are 
two  hundred  miles  nearer  Europe  than  any  of  the 
other  of  the  great  seaboard  cities.  We  have  a 
harbor  unrivalled  on  the  American  coast  for  easy 
entrance — for  depth  of  water — for  protection  from 
storms. 

Its  great  water-front,  at  wdiich  vessels  of  burden 
may  lie  to  an  extent  (as  is  stated  by  the  Harbor 
Commissioners)  of  fifty  miles — every  foot  of  which 
is,  or  may  be  directly  connected  with  our  railroads. 
There  is  not  a  wharf  along  the  whole  circuit  which 
may  not,  without  great*  expense,  be  made  available 
for  the  export  of  the  productions  of  the  country, 
brought  by  the  railroad  car  to  the  side  of  the  ship, 
which  shall  convey  it  to  the  freight  market.  If  we 
can  secure  to  Boston  a  fair  share  of  the  export 
trade  of  the  country,  the  import  and  domestic 
trade  will  follow,  and  we  ensure  the  building  of  a 
city  witfiin  the  limits  of  my  friend’s  annexation 
project,  that  will  equal  the  greatest  city  of  the 
continent. 


36 


THE  EFFECT  OK  THE  STATE  OF  MAKING-  BOSTON 
AN  EXPORTING  CITY. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  allude  to  the  close  con¬ 
nection  which  Boston  holds  to  Massachusetts. 

One-third  of  the  population  of  the  State  and  one- 

% 

half  its  valuation  are  combined  within  a  circle  of 
five  miles  from  this  building.  The  prosperity  of 
Boston  is  inseparable  from  the  prosperity  of  Mas¬ 
sachusetts.  The  recent  calamity  of  Boston  was 
felt  throughout  the  limits  of  the  State.  But  the 
great  benefit  to  the  State  from  making  Boston  an 
exporting  city  is  not  the  prosperity  of  the  city 
itself.  It  grows  out  of  the  condition  which  alone 
can  make  Boston  a  city  of  export  for  the  produc¬ 
tions  of  the  country. 

This  can  only  result  from  a  reduction  in  the 
transportation  tax  which  will  make  such  produc¬ 
tions  relatively  cheaper  in  Boston  than  in  New 
York.  In  the  profits  of  such  a  result  the  remotest 
corner  of  the  State  will  directly  share.  Trans¬ 
portation  cannot  be  reduced  to  Boston  without  a 
corresponding  reduction  upon  every  line  of  rail¬ 
road  leading  to  or  from  this  city.  It  was  with  a 
hope  of  such  a  result  that  the  State  entered  upon 
the  project  of  building  the  Hoosac  Tunnel,  and  it 
rests  with  us  to  say,  now  that  this  great  enterprise 
is  so  near  completion,  whether  this  hope  can  be 
realized. 


37 


THE  HOOSAC  TUNNEL. 

It  is  needless  to  explain  at  any  length  what  the 
Hoosac  Tunnel  is.  There  can  he  no  member  of 
this  hoard  who  does  not  know"  that  we  in  Massa¬ 
chusetts  are  separated  from  the  West  by  a  moun¬ 
tain  barrier  extending  from  near  Long  Island 
Sound  to  near  the  Canada  line.  This  barrier 
must  be  passed  to  bring  us  into  connection  with 
the  West. 

It  has  been  turned  on  the  north  by  the  Vermont 
Central,  on  the  south  by  the  Hartford  and  Erie. 
It  has  been  passed  over  steep  grades  by  the  Bos¬ 
ton  and  Albany.  At  !North  Adams  it  is  com¬ 
pressed  into  narrow  limits  in  the  Hoosac  Mountain, 
and  the  bold  conception  was  formed  to  pierce 
directly  through  it  at  this  point.  First,  the  effort 
was  made  to  accomplish  the  great  undertaking  by 
private  capital,  aided  by  a  state  loan.  The  diffi¬ 
culties  were  underrated  and  the  plan  failed.  Fi¬ 
nally,  the  State  assumed  the  enterprise  and  has 
since,  with  varying  fortunes  but  unfaltering  energy, 
prosecuted  it  to  a  successful  result.  Within  the 
current  year  there  can  be  little  doubt  of  the  com¬ 
pletion  of  the  work.  The  Tunnel  will  be  opened 
for  traffic  and  a  new  line  formed  between  Boston 
and  the  West;  shorter  by  eleven  miles  than  any 
existing  route;  with  easy  grades,  which,  making 
the  usual  allowance  for  the  obstruction  caused  by 


heavy  grades  to  railroad  traffic — will  render  it 
constructively  shorter  than  any  route  by  at  least 
twenty  miles,  or  ten  per  cent.,  between  Boston  and 
Albany. 

Its  cost  to  the  State,  including  the  Troy  and 
Greenfield  Railroad,  will  be  at  least  twelve  mil¬ 
lions,  raised  by  loans,  on  which  the  interest  is  paid 
by  taxation.  Since  the  plan  of  the  Tunnel  was 
formed  new  lines  of  road  have  been  projected  and 
built,  connecting  it  with  every  part  of  the  State, 
and  there  is  scarcely  a  town  from  Berkshire  to 
Provincetown,  which  does  not  to-day  stand  in 
position  to  reap  its  share  of  the  benefit  expected  to 
follow  the  completion  of  this  great  public  enter¬ 
prise. 

Having  expended  so  large  a  sum  on  the  Tunnel, 
the  question  arises,  How  shall  we  use  it  to  derive 
the  greatest  good  to  the  whole  people?  The  State 
now  holds,  as  owner  substantially,  the  Troy  and 
Greenfield  Railroad  and  the  Tunnel,  at  a  cost  of 
about  twelve  millions.  Its  value  depends  wholly 
upon  the  future  development  of  business,  but  its 
relations  are  such  to  other  railroad  interests,  that  I 
have  no  doubt  that,  if  the  State  desires  to  sell  the 
Tunnel,  notwithstanding  its  great  cost,  nego¬ 
tiations  could  be  made  to  dispose  of  it  at  a  price 
that  would  return  to  the  State  the  moneys  ex¬ 
pended,  but  it  would  be  at  the  risk  of  sacrificing 
the  prosperity  of  its  own  industrial  interests. 


39 


There  are  various  and  conflicting  opinions  ex¬ 
pressed  in  regard  to  the  business  that  may  be 
done.  Some  parties  who  appeared  before  the 
committee  declared  that  the  completion  of  the 
Tunnel  could  only  be  compared  to  the  removal  of  a 
dam,  to  be  followed  by  a  flood  of  business  beyond 
our  power  to  properly  care  for;  while  others  were 
equally  confident  that  the  traffic  now  flowing 
through  other  channels  would  be  diverted  to  the 
new  one  only  through  the  influence  of  time  and 
energetic  labor.  All,  however,  agreed  in  the 
opinion  that,  under  proper  management  it  was 
destined  to  become,  at  no  very  distant  day,  perhaps, 
the  great  avenue  for  trade  between  the  East  and 
West.  The  eagerness  wi  h  which  various  rail¬ 
road  corporations  S3ek  its  control  by  "ways  and 
means”  if  honest,  should  be  convincing  proof 
of  the  great  importance  of  the  Tunnel  to  the  pub¬ 
lic,  and  if  not  honest,  it  should  merit  the  con¬ 
demnation  of  every  honest  man  in  the  community. 

POSITION  OP  THE  COMMITTEE. 

On  certain  points  the  committee  were  unan¬ 
imous.  First:  That  the  State  should  own  and 
control  the  Tunnel  in  such  manner  as  to  secure  to 
the  whole  State  the  ultimate  benefit  to  be  derived 
from  its  construction,  and  to  secure  to  all  persons 
and  corporations  seeking  to  use  it,  equal  rights. 
Second:  That  to  attain  the  highest  benefit  to  be' 


40 


derived  from  this  new  line,  a  corporation  strong 
enough  to  provide  sufficient  equipment  and  ter¬ 
minal  facilities  should  he  formed,  able  to  command 
connections  with  roads  outside  of  the  State  and 
to  compete  with  a  fair  share  of  success  with  the 
existing  corporations.  How  best  to  attain  these 
ends  with  a  view  to  cheapness  of  transportation 
and  efficiency  of  action  the  members  of  the  com¬ 
mittee*  differ.  The  majority  reported  a  bill  pro¬ 
viding  for  the .  consolidation  of  the  Boston  and 
Lowell  Railroad  Company,  the  Fitchburg  Railroad 
Company,  the  Vermont  and  Massachusetts  Railroad 
Company,  the  Commonwealth  and  the  Troy  and 
Boston  Railroad  Company  into  one  corporation, 
with  authority  to  purchase  or  lease  certain  other 
roads,  which  will  make  a  capital  of  not  less  than 
twenty-five  to  thirty  millions  and  give  control  to 
about  five  hundred  miles  of  railroad. 

From  this  plan  the  minority  have  dissented  and 
reported  a  plan  which  will  place  the  direct  line 
from  Boston  to  Troy  substantially  under  one  di¬ 
rection,  and  subject  it  not  to  state  management 
but  to  state  control . 

THE  BILL  OF  THE  MAJORITY. 

To  the  bill  reported  by  the  majority  of  the  com¬ 
mittee  we  have  the  strongest  objections. 

First . — It  sanctions  an  enormous  inflation  of 


41 


capital.  It  authorizes  a  consolidation  upon  the 
basis  of  an  appraisal  of  the  value  of  the  several 
properties  to  be  made  by  the  parties  themselves. 
The  railroads  of  this  Commonwealth  are  prohibited 
by  law  from  making  stock  dividends,  and  yet  here 
.  stock  dividends  are  allowed  to  such  extent  as  the 
parties  think  proper.  One  of  the  greatest  imposi¬ 
tions  ever  practised  upon  the  public,  from  which 
the  people  of  this  Commonwealth  now  suffer,  is  the 
watered  stock  of  the  railroads  between  Albany  and 
Chicago.  The  amount  of  stock  in  the’se  roads 
issued  without  any  equivalent,  upon  which  our 
traffic  is  now  taxed,  is  variously  estimated  at  from 
forty-four  millions  to  one  hundred  and  five  mil¬ 
lions.  The  annual  tax  levied  is  from  three  millions 
*  to  six  millions,  of  which  we  pay  a  large  share. 
The  majority  bill  provides  for  just  such  a  water¬ 
ing  of  stock,  to  the  extent  of  perhaps  ten  millions, 
according  to  the  appraisal  by  the  parties  in  inter¬ 
est.  We  believe  this  to  be  all  wrong,  and  should 
not  be  sanctioned  by  the  Commonwealth. 

Second. — We  utterly  dissent  from  the  opinion  of 
the  majority  in  allowing  the  Boston  and  Lowell 
Railroad  to  come  into  such  a  consolidation.  The 
Boston  and  Lowell  forms  no  part  of  the  Tunnel 
line.  Every  witness  before  the  committee,  ex¬ 
cept  the  agents  of  the  corporations  themselves, 

was  emphatic  against  such  a  consolidation. 

6 


42 


See  Governor  Claflin’s  testimony,  7th  Hearing,  page  26. 


i  i 

J.  T.  Joy 

1 1 

<  i 

“  37. 

i  i 

C.  F.  Adams,  Jr., 

<  i 

(( 

t  i 

i  i 

N.  C.  Nash 

t  i 

9th 

(  i 

a  4. 

t  i 

Q.  A.  Vinal 

i  i 

14th 

i  i 

“  10. 

( i 

Col.  Faulkner 

i  ( 

i  ( 

i  t 

“  12. 

i  6 

J.  W.  Brooks 

(( 

17  th 

it 

“  13. 

The  Northern  line  has  been  of  very  great  value 
to  the  business  of  Boston  and  Massachusetts ;  more 
than  any  other  it  has  effected  that  reduction  of 
rates  which  has  returned  to  Boston  within  the  past 
few  years  a  portion  of  the  export  trade.  It  forms 
the  shortest  line  at  present  existing  between  Bos¬ 
ton  and  the  Lakes,  and  while  lake  navigation  is 
open  substantially  controls  the  rates  over  the  other 
lines.  Mr.  Nathaniel  C.  Nash  says  (9th  hearing,  * 
page  6),  "We  have  derived  more  advantage  from 
that  line  than  from  any  other  source.”  (See  Bail- 
road  Commissioners’  Beport  of  1870,  page  36.) 
While  the  Lowell  railroad  provided  the  terminus 
and  the  representation  in  this  Commonwealth,  the 
other  railroads  in  the  line  have  cooperated  in  pro¬ 
ducing  this  result.  It  has  cheapened  food  to  the 
people  of  this  Commonwealth,  and  of  all  New 
England.  The  Lowell  Bailroad  is  bound  by  con¬ 
tracts  to  continue  in  this  Northern  line  for  twenty 
years  to  come.  Although  some  of  the  corpora¬ 
tions  are  under  financial  difficulties,  this  does  not 
affect  the  operations  of  the  line.  The  railroads 


43 


still  exist  and  must  continue  to  do  business,  and 
so  far  as  the  advantage  of  the  traffic  extends,  it 
matters  little  who  owns  or  operates  the  railroads. 
So  impressed  are  the  majority  of  the  committee 
with  the  importance  of  maintaining  the  northern 
line  that  they  impose  upon  the  Lowell  Railroad 
Company,  as  they  say,  the  conditions  of  withdraw¬ 
ing  from  the  Northern  line,  and  make  provision 
for  transfer  of  the  business  to  another  line — the. 
Boston  and  Maine.  They  propose  to  do  this  in  a 
manner  which  seems  to  us  weak  and  futile.  The 
majority  bill  provides  for  repeal  of  the  charter  of 
the  Great  Northern  Railroad  Company,  passed  in 
1869,  which  authorized  the  Boston  and  Lowell 
Railroad  Company  to  consolidate  with  certain  com¬ 
panies  in  New  Hampshire,  with  authority  to  lease 
or  purchase  other  railroads  leading  to  Ogdensburg 
and  other  points  in  the  North  and  West,  and  lines 
of  boats  on  the  lakes.  As  all  the  other  companies 
in  this  consolidated  line  are  in  New  Hampshire  this 
charter  was  ineffective  without  the  cooperation  of 
New  Hampshire,  and  to  this  bill  New  Hampshire 
has  never  assented — not  from  any  hostility  to 
through  lines,  but  because  it  contained  objection¬ 
able  features,  such  as  the  consolidation  of  compet¬ 
ing  lines,  the  creation  of  a  monstrous  corporation 
with  power  to  combine  in  one  gigantic  monopoly 
all  the  railroads  within  her  borders.  This  charter 
is  mere  waste  paper,  and  its  repeal  would  have  no 


44 


more  effect  than  the  burning  of  waste  paper.  The 
Lowell  Railroad  remains  bound  by  contracts  to  the 
Northern  line,  and  the  majority  bill  effectually 
places  the  Northern  and  Tunnel  lines  under  one 
control.  The  proposal  to  transfer  the  Northern 
line  and  northern  business  to  the  Boston  and 
Maine  Railroad  seems  to  us  an  absurdity.  The 
Boston  and  Maine  is  practically  an  Eastern  line; 
of  its  whole  length,  one  hundred  and  twelve  miles, 
only  twenty-six  could  be  used  in  connection  with 
the  Northern  line.  It  never  could  or  would  give 
that  exclusive  attention  to  the  business  necessary 
to  make  such  a  line  successful.  Its  only  means  of 
connection  is  over  the  Manchester  and  Lawrence 
Railroad,  the  grades  of  which  are  too  heavy  for  a 
successful  freight  business  with  the  West. 

The  Boston  and  Lowell  Railroad  is  the  natural 
terminus  of  this  Northern  line,  and  no  legislation 
can  remove  it  from  this  position.  Moreover  the 
majority  bill,  placing  the  Boston  and  Lowell  Rail¬ 
road  and  the  Fitchburg  in  the  same  control,  and 
authorizing  a  lease  of  the  Cheshire,  gives  the  con¬ 
solidated  company  such  a  substantial  control  of  the 
whole  northern  business  that  its  transfer  to  the 
Boston  and  Maine  would  necessarily  be  followed 
by  such  disastrous  competition  as  to  preclude  such 
a  connection.  It  must  inevitably  result  in  a  con¬ 
solidation  of  the  Tunnel  and  the  Northern  line 


45 


under  one  management.  In  creating  a  new  line 
we  destroy  one  which  already  exists. 

Our  true  policy  is  to  maintain  unimpaired  our 
four  routes  to  the  West,  and  under  whatever  man¬ 
agement  they  may  be,  at  all  events  maintain  that 
they  shall  be  independent  of  each  other.  If  a  con¬ 
solidation  is  to  be  made  of  the  Tunnel  line  we  are 
clearly  of  the  opinion  that  it  should  be  of  the  direct 
line  only  between  Boston  and  Troy,  including  the 
Fitchburg,  Vermont  and  Massachusetts,  Troy  and 
Greenfield,  and  Troy  and  Boston,  and  the  Massa¬ 
chusetts  Central  if  it  desires  to  form  part  of  such 
a  line.  The  Boston  and  Lowell  Railroad,  and 
Nashua  Railroad  should  be  studiously  kept  apart 
from  such  a  line,  because  it  forms  no  natural  part, 
and  does  form  a  natural  part  of  another  line.  It  is 
urged  that  the  possession  of  terminal  facilities  in 
Boston  should  be  allowed  a  controlling  influence  in 
this  matter;  that  the  Boston  and  Lowell  Railroad 
has  obtained  the  only  convenient  terminus  in  Bos¬ 
ton  for  a  great  Western  line — more  than  is  needed 
for  its  own  business,  or  the  business  of  the  North¬ 
ern  line,  and  therefore  that  the  railroad  policy  of 
the  Commonwealth  should  be  compelled  to  yield  to 
its  position.  To  this  there  are  two  answers. 

First. — That  these  facilities  were  obtained  for 
the  Northern  line,  and  by  urgent  representations 
of  its  necessities,  and  if  they  are  not  needed  for 


46 


that  business  they  should  be  transferred  to  other 
corporations  that  do  need  them. 

The  Commonwealth  has  full  power  in  the  case, 
and  it  is  only  necessary  to  invoke  the  same  power 
which  the  majority  bill  gives  the  consolidation 
company  to  take  property  from  the  Fitchburg,  to 
take  from  the  Lowell  Railroad  Company  the  prop¬ 
erty  which  it  now  represents  as  not  needed  for  its 
business  which,  it  has  obtained  under  the  repre¬ 
sentation  of  a  public  necessity. 

Secondly . — The  question  of  terminal  facilities  is 
too  unimportant  in  itself  to  be  permitted  to  deter¬ 
mine  in  the  least  degree  the  decision  of  a  great 
State  policy;  other  facilities  can  be  obtained  as 
good  as  the  Lowell. 

Finally. — We  object  to  the  plan  of  the  majority 
because  it  continues  the  policy  of  placing  our  last 
remaining  line  to  the  West  under  the  control  and 
management  of  a  stock  corporation. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  there  is  great  and  wide¬ 
spread  dissatisfaction  with  our  present  railroad 
system,  and  its  management.  We  have  tried  in 
vain  to  control  by  special  legislation,  and  it  may 
well  be  acknowledged  that  the  trial  has  not  been 
very  successful. 

REGULATION  BY  SPECIAL  LEGISLATION. 

No  system  has  ever  been  devised  better  calcu¬ 
lated  to  introduce  corruption  into  our  state  gov- 


47 


f 


ernment  than  the  present  method  of  regulating 
railroads  by  special  laws.  Every  senator  knows 
what  influences  Sire  brought  to  bear  to  promote 
and  defeat  the  various  projects  of  special  legislation. 
No!  Mr.  President,  I  have  over-stated — I  am  sure 
that  no  senator  at  this  board  does  know  all  the 
w  ways  and  means  ”  that  are  used  to  influence  mem¬ 
bers  to  secure  votes  for  the  passage  of  various  bills 
in  the  interest  of  railroads.  Every  senator  is  aware 
how  powerful  and  wdde-spread  is  the  pressure 
when  public  railroad  legislation  is  under  consider¬ 
ation.  If  these  influences  wene  confined  to  the 
questions  of  special  or  general  railroad  legislation, 
great  as  the  evil  is,  it  would  not  be  irreparable. 
But  unhappily  the  evil  does  not  stop  here.  Hardly 
a  question  of  special  or  general  legislation  is  de¬ 
cided  by  either  branch  of  the  legislature  without 
being  affected  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  by  these 
railroad  questions.  It  prolongs  our  sessions  and 
fills  our  lobbies  with  the  advocates  of  private  cor¬ 
porations,  and  these  special  guardians  of  the  rights 
of  the  people  in  the  service  and  pay  of  railroad 
corporations  astonish  the  members  from  the  rural 
districts  by  their  disinterestedness  in  their  "  labors 
of  love  ”  and  benevolence — making  their  stay  at  the 
capital  so  pleasant  and  agreeable  without  money, 
but  not  without  price — as  to  create  a  strong  desire 
to  serve  the  "  dear  people  ”  another  term,  and  obli¬ 
gations  are  exchanged  that  demand  the  presence 


48 


and  service  of  these  men.  No!  not  men  alone,  but 
men  and  women  at  our  town  caucuses  and  con¬ 
ventions,  that  favors  granted  may  be  reciprocated 
in  securing  the  nomination,  and  thereby  the  elec¬ 
tion  of  the  men  who  are  willing  to  be  run  by  rail¬ 
road  interests. 

If  this  state  of  things  does  not  corrupt  legisla¬ 
tors,  it  is  because  legislators  are  incorruptible. 

We  know  its  results  in  other  States,  and  we  may 
well  fear  it  here.  Special  legislation  has  totally 
failed  in  securing  the  results  intended,  and  left 
behind  a  train  of  unmitigated  evils  which  must 
increase  with  the  increased  magnitude  of  the  rail¬ 
road  interest,  and  the  growth  of  railroad  corpora¬ 
tions.  The  establishment  of  such  a  corporation  as 
is  provided  for  in  the  majority  bill  may  well  be 
dreaded.  The  creature  will  be  more  powerful  than 
its  creator. 

CONTROL  OF  THE  TUNNEL. 

The  committee  were  clear  and  unanimous  in  the 
opinion  that  the  State  should  under  no  circumstan¬ 
ces  part  with  the  absolute  control  of  the  Tunnel  to 
a  private  corporation. 

The  majority  bill  is  the  first  step  in  giving  up 
the  control  $f  the  Tunnel  to  a  private  corporation. 
It  gives  to  that  corporation  control  of  the  whole 
line,  except  the  Tunnel;  and  entrusts  it  with  the 
operators  of  the  Tunnel  itself. 


49 


The  pressure  upon  the  State  to  part  with  the 
Tunnel  will  grow  with  the  increase  of  business ;  the 
whole  power  and  usefulness  of  the  line  must  rest 
in  the  hands  of  the  corporation  which  owns  the 
railroad  entering  the  Tunnel  on  either  side.  I  am 
not  old  in  railroad  tactics — but,  Mr.  President — 
with  the  bill  reported  by  the  majority  of  the 
committee,  I  think  I  should  have  no  difficulty — 
with  less  than  one-half  of  the  amount  of  the  money 
expended  in  the  efforts  to  pass  the  bill — to  capture 
the  Tunnel  from  the  State  in  three  years,  and  it 
would  be  accomplished  in  such  a  manner  through 
the  representatives  of  the  people,  that  no  one 
would  presume  to  question  my  honesty. 

The  Commonwealth,  owning  the  Tunnel, — the 
most  valuable  portion  of  the  line,  the  ~key  to  the 
whole  line, — has  no  voice  in  its  management  except 
a  minority  in  the  board  of  direction;  no  voice  in 
fixing  rates,  no  influence  in  its  operations.  This  is 
all  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  private  corporation, 
governed  by  stockholders,  whose  stock  is  at  all 
times  in  the  market,  and  may  be  purchased  at  any 
time  by  any  parties  who  deem  it  for  their  interest 
to  control  the  line.  The  corporation  may  at  any 
time  combine  with  existing  corporations  to  fix 
rates,  and  thus  the  main  object  sought  by  the 
State  in  constructing  the  Tunnel — an  independent 
and  competing  line — be  defeated. 

7 


50 


THE  PURPOSES  OF  THE  MINORITY. 

The  minority  of  the  committee  in  the  plan  which 
they  propose  to  the  legislature,  have  had  two 
purposes  in  view.  First:  Absolute  and  perpetual 
control  of  the  Tunnel,  built  with  the  public  money 
for  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  the  whole  Common¬ 
wealth;  and  second:  state  control  of  the  Tunnel 
line.  I  use  the  words  state  control  designedly,  as 
distinguished  from  state  ownership,  or  state  man¬ 
agement. 

State  ownership  of  a  railroad  without  state  man- 
agement  is  useless.  State  management  may  sink 
into  political  management  which  might  be  disas¬ 
trous  to  the  public,  and  to  the  railroad.  But 
state  control  is  a  very  different  thing;  precisely 
what  legislatures  have  sought  in  vain  to  attain. 
We  have  endeavored  to  give  it  by  special  legisla¬ 
tion,  but  all  in  vain;  and  yet  just  this  is  what  we 
want. 

The  idea  is  too  firmly  fixed  in  the  public 
mind  to  be  eradicated  without  a  fair  and  con¬ 
clusive  trial,  that  fares  and  freights  are  now 
‘too  high — that  cheap  transportation  is  necessary, 
and  can  be  furnished  without  interfering  with  a 
fair  returi  for  the  capital  invested.  You  cannot 
expect  private  corporations  whose  whole  object  is 
to  make  money  for  stockolders,  to  try  this  experi¬ 
ment  fairly,  and  ascertain  how  cheaply  transporta- 


51 


tion  can  be  afforded.  Railroad  corporations  do 
sometimes  compete,  but  the  sole  object  and  pur¬ 
pose  of  such  competition  is  eventual  combination, 
and  in  that  combination,  the  public  must  suffer. 
We  want  to  establish  a  corporation  which  shall 
compete  to  increase  its  business  without  any  ulte¬ 
rior  view  of  combination  to  raise  rates,  and  such  a 
corporation  is  found  under  the  plan  presented  by 
the  minority  of  the  committee. 

THE  MINORITY  BILL. 

This  bill  proposes  first  that  the  Troy  and  Green¬ 
field  Railroad  and  Tunnel  shall  remain  the  prop¬ 
erty  of  the  State. 

Second.  That  the  State  shall  obtain  by  lease 
the  control  of  the  railroads  forming  the  direct 
Tunnel  line.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  this 
can  be  effected.  We  have  assurances  that  the 
Fitchburg  Railroad  Company  will  assent  to  the 
terms  of  this  bill.  If  the  only  result  of  this  bill  is 
to  secure  the  control  of  the  Fitchburg  Railroad  it 
will  be  worth  the  trial.  The  Fitchburg  Railroad 
with  its  connection  with  the  Tunnel,  has  a  com¬ 
manding  position  with  reference  to  the  railroads 
of  the  State.  What  we  want  to  secure  is  a  free 
system  of  competition,  without  the  po^er  of  com¬ 
bination,  which  is  now  the  bane  of  our  railroad 
system,  in  the  hands  of  private  corporations. 


52 


Rates  are  now  fixed  to  a  remarkable  extent  by 
combination,  and  not  by  competition.  Every 
business  man  knows  that  the  freight  rates  between 
important  points  are  fixed  at  meetings  of  freight 
agents,  who  consider  not  what  is  a  fair  price  for 
rendering  the  service,  but  what  will  best  pay  the 
corporations  which  control  the  business. 

The  great  need  of  the  business  community  of 
Boston  and  Massachusetts,  is  a  line  to  the  West, 
making  the  nearest  connection  with  the  Lakes, 
which  will  do  the  business  at  fair  and  uniform 
rates,  and  which  shall  be  managed  in  the  interest 
of  the  public,  and  not  of  stockholders.  Such  a 
line  can  be  secured  under  the  provisions  of  the 
minority  bill,  which  will  establish  a  through  line 
with  power  to  connect  with  Lake  navigation  at 
Oswego,  on  Lake  Ontario,  and  be  substantially 
under  state  control.  The  necessity  of  extending 
the  line  to  Oswego,  to  some  point  on  the  Lake  is 
obvious,  because  every  other  railroad  communicat¬ 
ing  with  the  West,  except  the  Great  Northern 
route,  is  now  under  the  control  of  New  York. 
At  any  Lake  port  navigation  is  open  for  seven  or 
^jght  months  in  the  year,  and  gives  a  direct  com¬ 
munication  with  the  great  centres  of  Western 
commerce.  i 

The  Tunnel  line  ending  at  Troy  can  give  little 
advantage  over  the  present  Western  line — the 
Boston  and  Albany  Railroad. 


53 


THE  EFFECT  OF  STATE  CONTROL  OF  THE  TUNNEL 

LINE. 

One  great  purpose  of  controlling  one  important 
line,  is  the  effect  upon  other  lines.  Our  system  of 
railroads  is  so  interwoven  that  all  our  railroads  are 
to  some  extent  competing,  and  the  operation  of 
one  railroad  by  a  corporation  in  the  interest  of  the 
public  will  to  a  great  extent  control  the  whole 
railroad  system  of  the  State.  The  direct  Tunnel 
line  probably  now  occupies  the  most  important 
controlling  position  of  any  in  the  State.  It  can  be 
made  a  regulator  of  the  Western  business  of  the 
State.  It  can  by  its  connections  with  the  Ches¬ 
hire  and  other  Vermont  and  Massachusetts  rail¬ 
roads,  largely  control  the  northern  lines. 

It  will,  by  its  many  connections,  bring  the  whole 
State  in  direct  connection  with  the  North  and 
West.  The  great  success  of  the  so-called  Bel¬ 
gium  system  is  founded  on  this  principle, — the 
control  of  the  whole  by  the  direct  operation 
of  a  small  portion.  The  position  of  our  Massa¬ 
chusetts  railroads  is,  in  this  respect,  not  unlike 
that  of  Belgium.  Our  railroads  are  so  closely  con-"* 
nected  together  that  the  state  control  of  one  road 
will  be  felt  throughout  the  whole  system. 


54 


THE  POPULAR  FEELING  IN  EAVOR  OF  STATE 
CONTROL. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  popular  feeling  has 
been  steadily  growing  in  favor  of  state  operation 
of  railroads  in  spite  of  all  that  has  been  said  of  the 
danger  of  corruption  and  of  the  inefficiency  of 
state  management.  The  people,  confident  in  their 
own  integrity  and  their  own  power,  have  not  indis¬ 
tinctly  shown  their  desire  to  fairly  try  the  experi¬ 
ment,  and  the  circumstances  are  more  favorable 
for  such  an  experiment  than  will  probably  again 
occur.  The  State  now  owns  the  important  part 
of  the  line, — that  part  which  is  necessary  to  change 
the  line  from  a  disconnected  local  line  of  railroads 
to  a  great  through  line.  It  has  been  built  at  great 
cost.  Its  opening  gives  great  value  to  the  con¬ 
necting  roads.  If  it  was  worth  the  cost  of  con¬ 
struction,  this  value  can  only  be  shown  by  a 
development  of  business  which  will  require  a 
series  of  years,  and  will  be  attended  with  corre¬ 
sponding  advantages  to  all  connecting  roads.  This 
development  of  business  can  hardly  be  expected 
"without  substantially  giving  up  the  control  of  the 
Tunnel  to  the  line  which  operates  it.  The  major¬ 
ity  bill  does  give  such  a  control.  We  deem  it  the 
best  way  for  the  State  retaining  the  Tunnel  to 
obtain  upon  fair  terms  the  control  of  the  connect¬ 
ing  roads,  and  fairly  try  the  experiment  of  oper- 


55 


ating  a  railroad  to  ascertain  how  cheaply  trans¬ 
portation  can  be  furnished,  and  yet  return  a  fair 
remuneration  for  the  capital  employed.  The  pub¬ 
lic  demands  such  an  experiment  to  be  tried,  and  a 
better  opportunity  to  try  can  never  exist. 

SAFETY  OF  THE  EXPERIMENT. 

Of  this  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt,  for  a 
corporation  formed  under  the  provisions  of  the 
minority  bill  possesses  all  the  advantages  that  can 
be  obtained  by  consolidation  under  one  private 
corporation,  as  authorized  by  the  majority  bill, 
and  the  additional  advantages  of  state  and  corpo¬ 
rate  management  combined,  which  would  be 
efficient  and  reliable,  beyond  that  of  ordinary  rail¬ 
road  corporations,  inasmuch  as  their  acts  would 
be  most  carefully  watched  and  criticised  by  others 
than  stockholders,  and  the  honor  of  securing  a 
successful  result  to  so  great  an  experiment  and 
enterprise  in  the  interests  of  the  people,  would  be 
a  far  greater  incentive  to  even  political  ambition, 
than  the  compensation  received;  for”  great  deeds 
foreshadow  great  men,”  and  the  people  are  not 
slow  in  their  rewards  to  those  who  are  honest  and 
earnest  in  their  service. 

Why,  Mr.  President,  if  I  had  the  ability  to  man¬ 
age  this  enterprise,  I  should  hold  the  honor  of 
making  this  enterprise  in  the  interest  of  the  State 
a  success  of  more  importance  than  the  honor  of 


56 


being  the  governor  of  Massachusetts.  And  when 
a  man’s  reputation  is  thus  at  stake,  he  cannot  afford 
to  cheat  himself  by  withholding  from  the  State 
his  best  talents  and  energies.  It  has  another  and 
still  greater  advantage, — the  endorsement  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  which  furnishes 
power  and  capital  for  terminal  facilities,  equipment 
and  the  improvement  of  the  line  at  a  cheaper  rate 
than  any  consolidated  company  can  procure  it;  and 
cheap  capital  in  disinterested  hands  secures  cheap 
transportation. 

Can  there  be  any  doubt  that  a  corporation  thus 
formed  and  managed  will  prove  a  financial  success? 
If  not  a  success,  then  we  have  great  reason  to  dis¬ 
trust  a  private  corporation;  with  far  less  advan¬ 
tages,  and  a  larger  capital,  for  doing  the  same 
business  must  prove  a  financial  failure. 

To  demonstrate  this  point  in  a  more  practical 
manner,  we  will  assume  a  proposition  and  verify 
this  proposition  by  figures. 

Judging  from  the  present  local  business  now 
done  on  the  several  roads — forming  what  is  antic¬ 
ipated  as  the  Tunnel  line,  and  the  testimony  of 
eminent  railroad  men  of  the  business  that  is  sure 
to  come  to  this  great  through  route  to  the  West — 
it  is  fair  to  assume  that  the  whole  will  do  a  busi¬ 
ness  that  will  average  six  millions  a  year  for 
the  first  five  years;  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the 
gross  earnings  of  the  leased  roads,  and  property 


57 


are  reserved  to  provide  for  settlement  of  the  con¬ 
ditions  of  the  said  leases;  and  as  they  are  not 
guaranteed  the  payment  of  any  amount  beyond 
what  their  present  business  pays,  can  there  be 
any  doubt  but  what  the  twenty-five  per  cent,  on 
the  increased  business  will  pay  the  six  per  cent, 
interest  on  the  capital  loaned  to  increase  the  facil¬ 
ities  for  extending  the  business  over  the  line? 

The  Railroad  Commissioners  report  that  the 
average  expenses  of  all  the  railroads  of  the  Com¬ 
monwealth  is  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  their  gross 
earnings ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  but  what  it  can  be 
proved  that  it  cost  less  than  seventy  per  cent,  on 
the  great  trunk  lines,  and  one  of  the  oldest  and 
most  successful  railroad  managers  assured  me  that 
this  Tunnel  line  could  be  run  for  sixty  per  cent., 
but  we  will  call  it  seventy  per  cent.,  which  makes 
with  the  twenty-five  per  cent,  ninety-five  per  cent., 
leaving  five  per  cent,  for  net  profit  on  the  whole 
business  of  six  millions,  which  is  $300,000.  What 
next?  We  have  for  the  credit  of  the  corporation 
or  State,  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  gross  earn¬ 
ings  of  the  business  done  on  the  Troy  and  Green¬ 
field  Railroad  and  through  the  Tunnel.  Calling 
the  Tunnel  twenty-three  miles  in  length, — which  it 
is  conceded  it  should  be  called  for  what  it  saves  in 
distance  and  grades, — and  with  the  Troy  and  Green¬ 
field  Railroad,  which  is  forty-four  miles,  we  have 
one-third  of  the  whole  distance,  and  it  is  the  judg- 

8  A 


58 


ment  of  practical  railroad  men  that  out  of  the  six  mil¬ 
lions  of  business,  two  millions  would  pass  over  this 
division  and  through  the  Tunnel;  and  twenty-five 
per  cent,  on  two  millions  is  $500,000  income,  which, 
added  to  the  $300,000,  gives  a  net  income  of  $800,- 
000  to  the  State,  which  is  nearly  six  per  cent,  on 
thirteen  and  one-half  millions,  the  cost  of  the  Tun¬ 
nel  and  Troy  and  Greenfield  Railroad,  with  an  ad¬ 
ditional  expenditure  of  one  and  one-half  millions 
needed  to  make  this  division  of  the  route  what  it 
should  be  as  a  part  of  the  great  through  line.  In 
proportion  as  the  business  increases,  in  that  same 
proportion  will  the  profits  increase,  and  when  the 
business  shall  amount  to  ten  millions,  which  I  have 
no  doubt  it  will  in  less  than  ten  years,  you  create  a 
fund  over  and  above  the  interest  on  the  whole  cost 
that  can  be  used  for  extinguishing  the  debt,  pur¬ 
chasing  the  stock  of  the  leased  roads,  as  the  value 
is  fixed  by  the  terms  of  the  lease,  of  for  the  reduc¬ 
tion  of  rates  of  fares  and  freights.  If  this  prop¬ 
osition  will  not  bear  investigation,  pray  tell  me  how 
the  stockholders  of  the  consolidated  corporations 
are  to  receive  dividends  on  their  watered  stock, 
writh  increased  cost  of  improvements  of  the  line, 
and  equipment  for  doing  the  same  business. 

THE  ALLEGED  DANGER  OF  POLITICAL  CORRUPTION. 

A  chief  argument  against  the  system  proposed 
is  the  danger  of  political  corruption  likely  to  follow 


59 


the  employment  of  a  large  number  of  men  in  pub¬ 
lic  business. 

Second. — It  is  alleged  that  the  public  manage¬ 
ment  of  any  great  public  service  is  less  efficient 
than  private  management. 

The  purpose  of  the  minority  of  the  Committee  in 
proposing  their  plan,  was  to  provide  a  corporate 
body  removed  as  far  as  possible  from  political 
influence. 

The  State  Trustees  are  appointed  by  the  Gov¬ 
ernor  and  Council.  They  are  appointed  for  five 
years.  A  single  vacancy  occurs  each  year.  They 
hold  nearly  the  same  position  in  regard  to  the 
operatives  employed  in  the  operation  of  the  cor¬ 
poration,  as  directors  of  corporations,  and  no  one 
ever  heard  of  directors  exerting  any  great  politi¬ 
cal  influence,  particularly  State  directors.  I  doubt 
if  any  director  of  any  railroad  corporation  in  the 
State  ever  knew  or  thought  to  influence  the  politi¬ 
cal  vote  of  an  operative. 

If  they  choose,  the  managers  of  any  private  cor¬ 
poration  could  exert  a  greater  and  more  injurious 
political  influence  than  these  State  trustees. 

If  the  power  is  dangerous  in  State  trustees, 
who  must  be  selected  by  your  Governor,  it  is  far 
more  dangerous  in  the  hands  of  persons  elected  by 
stockholders  of  a  private,  money-making  corpora¬ 
tion,  whose  interests  are  in  direct  antagonism  to 
the  interests  of  the  public. 


60 


This  argument  applies  to  corporate  management 
only  with  a  much  greater  force.  Let  corporate 
management  he  unmasked  and  it  would  make 
State  management  hide  its  face  with  shame.  (See 
extract  ]STew  York  State  Committee  on  Erie.) 

"If  the  principle  is  to  be  established  that  a  few  inter¬ 
ested  parties  of  stock-jobbers,  having  no  permanent  inter¬ 
est,  can,  by  the  corrupt  use  of  money  or  by  violence,  take 
and  hold  possession  of  a  great  railroad  corporation,  and 
reimburse  themselves  out  of  its  treasury,  it  is  time  the 
matter  was  understood  by  the  public.  As  to  the  payment 
of  money  to  influence  legislation  connected  with  said  com¬ 
pany,  or  other  irregularities,  the  testimony  was  enough  to 
show  that  the  railroad  companies  have  been  in  the  habit 
of  expending  large  sums  from  year  to  year,  either  to 
secure  or  defeat  the  passage  of  bills.  It  appears  conclu¬ 
sive  that  a  large  amount,  reported  by  one  witness  at 
$100,000,  was  appropriated  for  legislative  purposes  by 
the  railroad  interest  in  1872,  and  that  $30,000  was 
the  Erie’s  portion.  In  this  connection  the  committee 
denounce  the  lobby  roundly.  It  is  further  in  evidence 
that  it  has  been  the  custom  of  the  managers  of  the  Erie 
Railroad  from  year  to  year  in  the  past  to  expend  large 
sums  to  control  elections  and  to  influence  legislation.  In 
1868  more  than  one  million  dollers  was  disbursed  from 
the  treasury  for  'extra  and  legal  services.’  What  the 
Erie  has  done,  other  great  corporations  are  doubtless 
doing  from  year  to  year.  We  have  here  simply  an  ac¬ 
knowledgment  of  the  fact.  Combined  as  they  are,  the 
power  of  the  great  moneyed  corporations  of  this  country 
are  a  standing  menace  to  the  liberties  of  the  people.  The 
railroad  lobby  flaunts  its  ill-gotton  gains  in  the  faces  of 
our  legislators,  and  in  all  our  politics  the  debasing  eflect 
of  its  influence  is  felt.” 


61 


This  cry  of  political  corruption  against  State 
management  is  but  the  resurrection  of  the  old  party 
ghost  which  has  always  been  retained  in  the  serv¬ 
ice  of  all  political  parties  to  frighten  people  that 
are  naturally  timid  and  conservative;  and  this  ter¬ 
rible  spectre  has  often  been  the  means  of  delaying 
and  defeating  enterprises  that  were  for  the  best 
interests  of  the  people. 

I  remember,  Mr.  President,  when  this  ghost  was 
exhibited  by  the  Democratic  party  in  every  town 
in  this  State ;  and  the  people  were  made  to  believe 
that  the  loan  made  by  the  State  to  the  Boston  and 
Albany  (Western)  Railroad  would  ruin  the  State; 
that  every  man’s  farm  was  mortgaged  at  nine  dol¬ 
lars  per  acre ;  and  men  believed  it,  for  that  was  in 
times  when  the  people  followed  party  leaders 
through  faith ;  when  it  was  said  that  the  true  test 
of  the  political  faith  of  a  ~New  Hampshire  Demo¬ 
crat  was  to  wake  him  up  with  the  inquiry,  "Who 
made  you?”  and  if  he  answered  promptly,  "Isaac 

a 

Hill,  sir,”  he  was  to  be  trusted  as  one  of  the  faith¬ 
ful. 

The  effect  of  this  great  outcry  was  to  destroy 
confidence  in  the  enterprise  and  the  stock  at  one 
time  could  not  be  given  away  for  fear  of  assess¬ 
ments.  And  if  the  people  at  that  time  could  have 
been  guaranteed  that  the  loss  of  the  State  should 
not  exceed  the  four  million  loaned,  they  would 
have  gladly  given  another  million  as  a  guarantee. 


62 


But  they  could  not  rid  themselves  of  the  supposed 
burden,  and  the  result  has  been  the  development 
of  a  great  enterprise  in  the  interests  of  the  State  in 
spite  of  their  fears.  This  was  in  a  measure  to  the 
credit  of  State  management. 

As  to  the  efficiency  of  the  plan,  it  remains  to  be 
tried;  but  in  the  language  of  the  minority  report 
we  believe  such  a  management  would  be  efficient 
and  reliable  beyound  that  of  ordinary  railroad  cor¬ 
porations.  It  combines  State  control  with  corpor¬ 
ate  management. 

The  Governor  and  Council  could  be  depended 
upon  to  appoint  suitable  persons  as  trustees.  The 
railroad  corporations  would  naturally  appoint  their 
most  efficient  agents  as  trustees.  Such  a  board 
could  find  no  difficulty  in  securing  the  services  of 
the  ablest  railroad  officers  to  direct  and  aid  in  the 
management. 

As  the  plan  has  no  precedent  it  cannot  be  judged 
from  the  record,  and  the  prejudice  existing  against 
State  management  cannot  fairly  apply  to  this  plan; 
but  if  it  could  have  a  fair  trial  we  have  no  doubt  of 
its  efficiency  and  success;  and  we  are  not  alone  in 
this  opinion,  for  this  j)lan  has  received  the  full 
endorsement  of  eminent  railroad  managers,  suc¬ 
cessful  and  prominent  manufacturers  and  mer¬ 
chants,  and  the  Chairman  of  the  Railroad  Com¬ 
missioners,  together  with  many  of  our  most  enter¬ 
prising  and  conservative  citizens. 


63 


STATE  PENSIONERS. 

It  is  urged  that  the  plan  proposed  creates  a  large 
class  of  state  pensioners  to  whom  the  revenues  of 
the  treasury  are  pledged.  They  are  State  pen¬ 
sioners  in  the  same  sense  as  any  individual  who 
leases  property  to  the  State  for  a  fixed  rent,  is  a 
State  pensioner.  Every  railroad  charter  contains  a 
provision  for  the  acquisition  of  the  corporate  prop¬ 
erty  by  the  State,  by  payment  of  its  presumed 

value.  As  well  say  that  all  these  charters  are 
* 

pension  bills. 

The  minority  bill  simply  provides  that  stock¬ 
holders  yielding  their  property  to  the  State,  shall 
have  a  remuneration  for  the  property  surrendered. 

It  makes  little  difference  to  the  individual  whether 
his  compensation  comes  in  the  form  of  the  pay¬ 
ment  of  a  fixed  sum  or  of  an  annual  annuity.  It 
does  make  some  difference  to  the  State,  whether  it  . 
increases  a  debt  to  pay  off  these  stockholders  at 
once,  or  pays  such  interest  as  the  property  ac¬ 
quired  may  be  fairly  presumed  to  earn.  The  guar¬ 
antee  does  not  exceed  the  dividends  which  the 
property  may  be  expected  to  earn,  and  the  advan¬ 
tage  which  a  lease  gives  over  a  purchase  by  avoid¬ 
ing  the  transfer  and  changing  of  capital  should  not 
be  overlooked. 

In  a  word,  these  stockholders  are  pensioners 
only  in  the  sense  that  they  become  entitled  to 


64 


secure  annuities  from  the  State  for  which  they  pay 
beforehand  a  full  equivalent  into  the  treasury. 

THE  BENEFITS  OF  THE  PROPOSED  PLAN. 

It  makes  absolutely  certain  the  perpetual  control 
of  the  Tunnel  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  the 
whole  State. 

It  secures  to  the  people  by  whose  money  it  has 
been  built,  the  ultimate  value  of  the  enterprise, 
whatever  that  value  may  prove  to  be. 

It  secures  to  the  people  an  independent  Western 
line,  to  be  managed  for  the  benefit  of  the  people, 
free  from  any  danger  of  combinations  by  which 
rates  are  fixed. 

It  secures  to  all  corporations  desiring  to  use  the 
Tunnel,  equal  rights. 

It  secures  a  line  stronger  than  any  other,  amply 
able  to  provide  equipment  and  facilities,  and  to 
compete  with  powerful  corporations  in  neighboring 
States. 

It  fixes  the  capital  of  the  corporation  without 
danger  of  inflation,  and  without  risk  of  speculative 
control. 

It  enables  the  people  to  try  fairly  the  experi¬ 
ment  of  cheap  transportation. 

It  provides  equally  with  the  plan  of  the  majority 
for  the  interchange  of  depots,  by  which  the  cross¬ 
ings  at  the  north  side  of  the  city  may  be  avoided. 

If  only  one-half  of  these  advantages  can  be 


65 


gained  the  experiment  is  worth  trying.  If  it  suc¬ 
ceeds  and  our  expectations  are  fully  realized,  it 
will  confer  upon  the  people  the  greatest  boon  since 
the  introduction  of  railroads. 

Senators  will  bear  me  witness  that  I  have  never 
solicited  their  vote  on  any  personal  consideration, 
and  in  the  decision  of  this  great  question,  I  can 
only  appeal  to  you  as  legislators  to  record  your 
votes  in  accordance  with  your  convictions  of  duty 
to  the  people  of  this  Commonwealth,  and  for  the 
protection  of  her  six  hundred  millions  of  industrial 
interests ;  unbiased  by  any  local  or  personal 
interest,  keeping  in  mind  that  there  is  no  power 
but  that  of  the  State  that  is  safe  to  trust  in  the 
great  exigency  that  now  exists. 

9 


